Underworld Slayer
by The Evil Author
Summary: BTVSUnderworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampirelycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.
1. Welcome to Los Angeles

Title: Underworld Slayer  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Archive: Anywhere and everywhere. Just tell me if you do.  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: The world of Underworld doesn't fit in the Buffyverse. So I made the Buffyverse fit into Underworld.  
  
"Ooh, we have visitors, Spike," Drusilla cooed.  
  
"Do we, pet?" Spike asked, glancing at the monitor that showed the hallway outside their door. No one was there, which didn't necessarily mean anything in this town. "Where are they?"  
  
"They're together all lovey-dovey." Well, that wasn't helpful. "So romantic," Dru sighed. "One like us but all growly and his love the dealer of death who doesn't want to anymore."  
  
"A dealer of. a Death Dealer?" Spike said alarmed, suddenly coming to full alert. "Where are they?"  
  
"In the city," Dru told him. "Wanting to get away from her nasty relatives."  
  
"Bollocks," Spike growled, picking up the phone. "Looks like we gotta call the poof."  
  
***  
  
Selene woke to someone nuzzling her cheek. She turned to stare into a pair of soulful eyes.  
  
"Morning," Michael said, before returning to his nuzzling.  
  
"Morning?" Selene murmured. She rather enjoyed his touch, but a glance at the bedside clock proved him a liar. "It's seven p.m."  
  
"Sorry, old habits," Michael said, raising his face.  
  
"Mmm, don't stop," Selene told him. He complied and returned to what he was doing. He also started moving downwards. "Oh, that feels good. Strange, but good."  
  
Michael made some inquisitive noises, but didn't stop.  
  
"I've always been a. workaholic I think it's called these days," Selene explained. "Get up early. Do research. Kill lycans. Train. Ooh." Michael had reached a sensitive spot. "I never. never took any lovers. Work always came first. Then we were on the run."  
  
After killing the vampire elder Viktor, Selene and Michael had fled. They knew that the next elder, Marcus, would not take kindly to the killing of his compatriot. And Michael's very existence as a vampire/werewolf hybrid was anathema to the old order. While they were on the run, the subliminal attraction they had felt for each other had blossomed into them becoming full-fledged lovers. It was something that Selene had little experience in. In a way, she felt more of a virgin in this situation than Michael.  
  
"Oh, god, Michael," Selene whispered. "What am I going to do now?"  
  
"Shh, it's alright," Michael said, moving back up to embrace her in his arms. "We're in Los Angeles. You said it yourself. The vampire Elders have no contacts here. We're safe."  
  
"That's just it, Michael," Selene said mournfully. "My life has always been defined by danger. I'm not sure I know how to live without it."  
  
Before Michael could answer, someone knocked on the door. Michael closed his eyes and extended his preternatural senses outwards to see what was knocking at the door. They were in a cheap motel. Their visitor couldn't possibly be room service.  
  
"Vampire," Michael finally said.  
  
The two lovers exploded off the bed. Michael rolled off one side to face the door, ready for whoever to come charging in. Selene rolled off the other and came up with an automatic pistol in each hand. One was loaded with anti-lycan ammunition. The other had anti-vampire bullets. The lycan underground supplied the latter. It had amazed Selene how willing the lycans were willing to share when word had gotten around that she had slain a vampire elder.  
  
"Get the door, Michael," Selene said, all business now. She was in her element. She positioned herself to cover their visitor.  
  
Michael grasped the door handle and slowly pulled the door open. He stayed behind the door, out of sight.  
  
"Hi!" burbled a female vampire with long blonde hair. "Welcome to Los.EEP! DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT ME!" Her hands sprung up to shield herself. One hand held an envelope.  
  
Selene quirked an eyebrow. She nodded at Michael to retrieve their visitor. Michael stepped into view and physically dragged the vampire into their room.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Selene demanded calmly, putting the gun with the anti-lycan ammo down. The other remained trained on the other vampire.  
  
"I'm Harmony," the other vampire said quickly. "It's like my job to greet any new vampires that come into the city. Make sure you guys know the rules."  
  
Selene frowed. She didn't think the girl was lying to her. If nothing else, Harmony didn't look like she had the brains to lie believably. "How did you know we were here?" Selene asked.  
  
"Oh, a local psychic told us," Harmony said. "On the other hand, she also said the lady was a merchant."  
  
"Merchant?" Selene echoed.  
  
"Yeah," Harmony said. "She said you bought and sold corpses. Um, 'dealer of the dead' I think were her words."  
  
Selene was surprised. This girl didn't know what a Death Dealer was?  
  
"Wait a minute. Did she say a psychic found us? There are real psychics too?" Michael asked.  
  
"No, there's no such thing as psychics," Selene replied. "I used to believe in witches too, but I outgrew that."  
  
"Oh, we got witches, too." Harmony glanced at Michael. "Okay, not that I don't appreciate the view, but could you tell me why I'm being held at gunpoint by two crazy but naked people?"  
  
Even in the darkness, Selene could actually see Michael blush. He reached for his clothes. They hadn't bothered to dress when reacting to what they thought was a possible attack. Selene's gun didn't waver.  
  
"Er, can I go?" Harmony asked nervously. She held up the envelope in her hand. "This is the welcome packet. It's got all the rules you need to follow and an invitation."  
  
"Invitation?" Selene asked.  
  
"Oh, we're having a birthday party for the Master of the City."  
  
***  
  
No Feuding in City Limits.  
  
No Hunting or Hurting Humans Unless Protecting Lives.  
  
No Eating Humans Ever. Alternative Food Sources are Available.  
  
The rules were short and simple. Being new to the world of vampires and Lycans, Michael didn't have a problem with them. Being a centuries old vampire, Selene found them peculiarly human-centric. Why was this "Master" so concerned about them?  
  
On a rooftop across from the Hyperion Hotel, Selene and Michael observed the guests arriving. The guests were a mix of human, vampire, and lycans. And so far as Selene could tell, they were all friendly with each other.  
  
"Shall we go in?" Michael asked quietly.  
  
"I don't like it," Selene replied. "If we go in, we'll be outnumbered and surrounded."  
  
"But?"  
  
"It doesn't feel like a trap," Selene admitted. "There's no way the covens could set this up. If nothing else, they couldn't possibly get vampires and lycans that friendly with each other."  
  
"So we go in?"  
  
Selene nodded.  
  
They stepped off the ledge and landed on the sidewalk several stories below unhurt. As they approached the front entrance, Michael took Selene's arm in his own, giving them the air of being a couple. This annoyed Selene slightly; she had wanted both arms free just in case. Michael wanted to them to actually look like a couple, so as not to appear hostile to the locals.  
  
Michael got his way. Being arm in arm wouldn't significantly impair their ability to react to an ambush anyway. Plus, it felt. nice.  
  
Entering the hotel, the two were greeted by some. thing. He certainly wasn't human, vampire, or lycan. For one thing, he was green.  
  
"Hello! Welcome to the Hyperion Hotel," the being said. "I'm Lorne. Refreshments and snacks are over by the counter over there. If you're packing heat, don't let it show. Don't start any fights and no snacking on the guests or service people. Oh, we'll also be holding karaoke later." He studied them. "Are you two new in town?"  
  
"Er, yes," Michael replied when Selene didn't. She looked like she was gawking at some of the more. unusual guests. But Selene didn't gawk. Gawking would be too gauche for Selene.  
  
"Well, welcome to L.A. then," Lorne nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta mingle. Hey, Gwen, good to." He moved off, greeting more guests.  
  
"Selene, what's wrong?" Michael whispered to her.  
  
"I. I've never been in mixed company like this," Selene replied. "And it's not just the vampires and lycans mingling. I don't even know what some of these people are."  
  
"You must be Michael and Selene," someone said behind them.  
  
They turned to see a tall, handsome vampire standing there.  
  
"Yes, we are," Selene replied crisply. Vampires she knew how to deal with. This one seemed strong, but not particularly old. "And you are?"  
  
"I'm Angel, supposedly the most senior vampire in the city," Angel replied. "Harmony, my assistant, told me about her meeting with you two."  
  
"Er, sorry?" Michael said.  
  
Angel shrugged. "She came back whole, so no harm, no foul," he said regretfully. "However, your extreme reaction did pique my curiosity. I did some discreet checking up on you two. Seems you two have a price on your heads."  
  
Selene tensed.  
  
"Relax, this is Los Angeles," Angel said. "Vampires and lycans come here to get away from Old World politics and the Feud. See that guy over there?" He pointed out a guitarist in a band that was providing the party with live music. "That's Oz. He's the Alpha lycan in the city. He also teaches Zen meditation to anyone who's interested. That happens to include a few lycans. He's become a kind of local legend."  
  
"Zen meditation?" Selene blurted in surprise. "In a LYCAN?"  
  
Angel nodded. "I didn't believe it either until I saw it for myself," he said. "Oz is the most laid back lycan I've ever seen, but he can still kick the ass of any lycan who challenges him. He picked up more than meditation techniques in Tibet."  
  
"What about her?" Michael asked, pointing to a redhead who was busy cuddling up to another girl. "There's something about her. Whatever it is, it's powerful. I can feel it even through the crowd."  
  
"Good call," Angel said. "That's Willow. She's in charge of the witch covens of Los Angeles. Willow's technically their representative, not their leader. She honestly tries to represent their interests, but none of the covens would ever dream of disobeying a command from her."  
  
"Why not?" Selene asked. She realized quickly that Angel was discreetly giving them a quick run down on local politics. That was another oddity. A stranger in a traditional vampire coven would never have things explained to them upfront like this.  
  
"Well, aside from being best friends with the Master of the City," Angel answered, "she could flay and incinerate the offending party alive. Which she's actually done once."  
  
"Wait, you're not the Master of the City, Angel?" Selene asked, frowning. "And where did such a silly title come from anyway?"  
  
"The title was supplied by the Master of the City's little sister who got it out of a vampire novel," Angel replied amused. "And no, I'm not the Master of the City. That would be."  
  
There was a crash. Two figures came tumbling down onto the main floor. One appeared to be a petite human girl with blonde hair. The other was a grotesque humanoid that had red scaly skin, horns, and bat-like wings sprouting from it's back. The girl recovered first, delivering a beating to her opponent at a speed Selene had only ever seen in elder vampires and Michael. It ended with her snapping the thing's neck.  
  
There was a scattering of applause from the crowd.  
  
".her," Angel concluded. "The Slayer."  
  
"The Slayer?" Selene said, surprised.  
  
"What's a Slayer?" Michael asked.  
  
"They're. well, no one knows really," Selene said absently. "There's lots of theories. Most of them revolve around Slayers being some kind of mutant strain of the virus that creates vampires, but they're rare. They don't propagate like we do." She shrugged. "Slayers are so rare and dangerous, that we've never been able to study them properly. What little we know is what we've observed. They have all the strengths of a vampire, and none of the weaknesses. Except that you don't need special bullets for them. But you have to hit them in the heart or brain, not an easy thing to do. Anything less than instantly lethal and they heal up and keep going."  
  
"You sound like you have direct experience," Angel commented.  
  
"Half a century ago," Selene whispered. The Slayer was headed their way. "One slaughtered my squad in Hamburg. I only survived because an air raid interrupted her."  
  
"Hi, Angel," the Slayer greeted, planting a light kiss on the vampire's cheek.  
  
"You okay?" Angel asked.  
  
"I'm fine," the Slayer replied. "But just once, I'd like to have a birthday where something doesn't try to kill me." She noticed Selene and Michael. "Gonna introduce me to your friends?"  
  
"Buffy, this is Selene and Michael," Angel said. "They're new in town. Selene, Michael, this Buffy the Slayer."  
  
"A Slayer, Angel," Buffy corrected. She extended a hand to them. "Hi, nice to meet you."  
  
Gingerly, Selene took her hand. There seemed to be a story behind, Buffy's words. Selene mentally filed that away for later inquiry.  
  
"Oh, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Buffy told her, apparently struggling not to laugh. "Not unless you plan on going on a killing spree." Her eyes narrowed. "You're not, are you?"  
  
"No, no killing sprees," Selene said quickly.  
  
"Good, welcome to L.A. then," Buffy said cheerfully. She turned to shake Michael's hand. "So what are you?"  
  
"Er, I'm a vampire/lycan hybrid," he said quietly, uncomfortable with revealing his nature among so many regular vampires and lycans.  
  
"One of a kind?" Buffy asked. Michael reluctantly nodded. "Cool. You'll be right at home then."  
  
Selene and Michael exchanged a glance. Maybe Los Angeles was going to be the refuge they were looking for after all. But there was just one more question that Selene had to ask.  
  
"Uh, what's that?" Selene asked, pointing at the thing Buffy had killed.  
  
"That? It's a demon. I'm not exactly sure what kind, mind you." Buffy answered. The thing twitched. Apparently, it wasn't quite as dead as Selene had assumed. Buffy raised her voice. "Hey, Spike. I want to talk to tall, scaly, and winged later! Take care of him, would you?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, just call me the janitor, why don't you?" a vampire with bleached hair replied. He strolled up to the demon and broke its neck again. Then he hauled it onto his shoulder and lugged the demon toward the back of the room.  
  
"A demon?" Selene said, disbelief evident in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, we get a lot of them around here," Buffy said sympathetically. "Some of them are okay, like Lorne there." She waved at the green guy. "Some like to do the rampage thing. The latter we try to keep a lid on."  
  
Selene looked around at some of the more unusual guests. "I've been around for centuries," she said. "I've never seen any actual demons before, not in the technicolor flesh anyway. Why are there so many here?"  
  
"What? No one's told you?" Buffy asked. She threw a glare at Angel. "You didn't tell them?"  
  
"I hadn't gotten to that part yet," Angel said innocently.  
  
"Um, demons?" Michael prompted.  
  
"Oh, right." Buffy inhaled. "Los Angeles - more specifically the L.A. suburb known as Sunnydale - happens to sit on a weak spot in the fabric of space and time. The demons come through there. Welcome to the Mouth of Hell." 


	2. Cursed Legality

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 2 - Cursed Legality  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Beware legalese.  
  
"Hi, welcome to Wolfram and Hart," Harmony said warily. "You're not going to pull a gun on me again, are you?"  
  
Selene and Michael glanced at each other in amusement.  
  
"No," Selene said shortly.  
  
"We have an appointment with Angel," Michael added.  
  
"Right, there you are," Harmony said, checking a clipboard. "Angel's in a meeting right now. You ought to be able to go right in afterwards. I'll let him know you're here."  
  
"You do that," Michael said, smiling.  
  
"HEY, ANGEL! THE TWO PSYCHOS ARE HERE!" Harmony shouted at the top of her lungs. Selene and Michael winced at the volume. Both had better than human hearing, which made the experience even more painful.  
  
There were some scuffling noises behind the office door. A moment later, it opened and a beautiful woman was literally pushed out ahead of Angel. Both were in business suits. While the woman seemed human, something seemed off about her to the two lovers. But after having attended the Slayer's birthday party, "off" was only to be expected.  
  
"The answer is still no, Lilah," Angel told the woman.  
  
"Just think about what I said," Lilah replied. As she turned to walk off, she glanced at Michael and raised an eyebrow before turning away.  
  
"Harmony," Angel said, turning to his secretary, "do try to use the intercom once in a while."  
  
"But boss, these new phones got lots of blinky buttons," Harmony protested vapidly. "Do you know how silly I'd look if I accidentally dialed the wrong number?"  
  
"Not as silly as shouting all the time," Angel retorted. Leaving Harmony sputtering for a reply, he turned to his guests. "Come on in." He led them into his office.  
  
Selene stopped abruptly at the door. Angel's office was being bathed in the afternoon sun. Michael moved through it just fine. That was expected of the hybrid. But Angel walked in the light just fine, too.  
  
"How." Selene began to ask.  
  
"Oh, sorry about that," Angel replied. He rapped a windowpane with his knuckles. "Almost every vampire in the city knows about this by now. All the windows in this building have been treated to specifically block ultraviolet radiation. Can't have the new boss turning into a crispy critter, y'know."  
  
Selene stepped into the light and drank in the sight of the sun. She didn't fry. It had been centuries since she'd seen the sun's light. Suddenly, she missed being able to walk in the day.  
  
"New boss?" Selene asked as she and Michael took seats in front of Angel's desk.  
  
Angel nodded. "The Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart literally gave me the whole Los Angeles branch of the firm to do with as I see fit," Angel told them. At their inquiring looks, he added. "That was because I helped stop an enemy of theirs from bringing about world peace by mind controlling everyone on the planet."  
  
The two just stared at him like he was insane.  
  
"So, enough about me. To business then," Angel said, quickly changing the subject. He opened a manila folder on his desk. "As you might have noticed, we don't exactly have a traditional vampire coven here. The local lycan pack and witch covens are pretty nonstandard too, but we'll cover that later. We're a pretty informal bunch here. Live and let live is pretty much the rule around here. And if you don't let live, we'll come down on you like a nuclear bomb. Understood?"  
  
The couple nodded.  
  
"As the head vamp of L.A," Angel continued, "it's my job to keep the vampires safe, happy, and mostly nonviolent within reason. The first issue we're going to deal with is your financial situation. Unless you have a fortune stashed away somewhere, you're going to need jobs to make money. One of you doesn't have a fortune stashed away, do you?"  
  
"I was a Death Dealer," Selene said with aristocratic disdain. "I never concerned myself with money before."  
  
"I was a medical intern before all this," Michael put in. "We've been living mostly off my savings and, um." He coughed in embarrassment and mumbled, "armed robbery."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Angel said reassuringly. "We won't hold the past against you. Just don't do it in our territory and we'll be fine. I'm here to help you, and that includes finding you jobs."  
  
"Thank you," Selene mumbled, unsure if she should be grateful or wary.  
  
"Now, it was actually pretty easy to find you paying jobs," Angel said, smiling. "Selene, the number of former Death Dealers currently living in L.A. can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. As a former Death Dealer yourself, you're a shoe in to be a Scooby."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"Scooby," Angel said sheepishly. "It's what we call our version of Death Dealers. Scoobies operate a bit differently as you'll learn." He saw that Michael was looking at him strangely again. Selene was just honestly confused by the name. "Hey, I didn't pick the name."  
  
"So who are the other former Death Dealers," Selene asked.  
  
"Just Spike and," Angel hesitated, "me."  
  
Selene looked at Angel sharply, recognition lighting up her eyes. But she held her peace for the moment.  
  
"Now, Michael, rumor has it that you're a hybrid of vampire and lycan. Is that true?" Angel asked.  
  
"Yes," Michael admitted. "With all the strengths of both and none of the weaknesses. In fact, stronger than either which is mostly why the vampire covens want me dead." The last was said in a tone that was almost an outright challenge.  
  
"Your strength is not an issue," Angel reassured him. "Still, if you have any issues with controlling your lycan side, talk to Oz. I'll give you his number."  
  
"Um, thank you," Michael said. "I think."  
  
"As for jobs," Angel continued, "I'm sure you'd make a great Scooby, but I think you might want to consider a different profession."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"You were a medical intern before you got dragged into our world, right?" Angel asked. Michael nodded. "How would you like to continue in the medical profession? People who know how to treat injured vampires and lycans are pretty damn rare. We really need qualified medical people."  
  
For the first time in what seemed a long time, Michael's eyes lit up in joy.  
  
***  
  
"Angelus," Selene pronounced. "Scourge of Europe."  
  
She had sent Michael out ahead of her, remaining behind to confer with Angel in private. Michael had been reluctant to leave Selene alone with the other vampire, mostly for the most basic reasons. His lover was a beautiful woman. Angel was pretty handsome himself. They would be alone together.  
  
"You've heard of me then," Angel said, not denying his past.  
  
"What vampire over the age of a century HASN'T heard of you?" Selene asked rhetorically. "You were one of the most renowned Death Dealers in history. Amazing for a vampire so young. Rumor had it that you routinely took on packs of lycans barehanded."  
  
"Taking lycan packs barehanded?" Angel snorted. "That's more Spike's style than mine. Is that what they say about me these days?"  
  
"You're the standard rookie Death Dealers are held up to," Selene told him.  
  
"Oh, God, no," Angel groaned.  
  
"What happened?" Selene asked quietly. "Why did you stop being a Death Dealer?"  
  
"Everyone in L.A. already knows the story, so you might as well hear it from me," Angel sighed. "The reason I was such a great Death Dealer is because I was the worst of the worst. I was a vicious and cruel monster that wasn't to particular about who or what I killed. Did you know that some kind of vampires like to go on the occasional killing spree? They just find a group of humans and slaughter them en masse."  
  
Selene winced and nodded. Her own Sire had been like that. Discovering that Viktor had killed her human family was what had prompted her to go renegade in the first place.  
  
"I was worse," Angel said quietly. Selene's eyes widened. "I'd fixate on a single human, usually a girl, and torture them mentally and physically until they either died, went insane, or I made them into one of us. Have you met Dru yet?"  
  
"No, but I heard about her at the party," Selene answered, thrown by the seeming non sequitir. "Isn't she supposed to be the crazy vampire seer that. oh."  
  
Angel studied the other vampire in silence as she mentally filled in the blanks. Her self-control was admirable, if showing a few cracks.  
  
"But you're not like that now?" Selene asked quietly.  
  
"No."  
  
"What made you change your ways?"  
  
"I was cursed, and I mean that literally," Angel told her. "I had killed a Romani girl in my usual gruesome style. Her surviving relatives took revenge by casting a spell that shattered my mind, my soul if you will, in two."  
  
"A spell?" Selene frowned.  
  
"Talk to Willow or Fred about magic," Angel told her. "I'm sure they'll fill you in on the physics of it even if you can't follow half the jargon they use."  
  
"So what is this about splitting your mind?"  
  
"I have what's called a split personality," Angel told her. "There's the Good Angel, which is talking to you right now. Then there's the Bad Angel, who is worse than the Old Angelus ever was. The Bad Angel comes out to play when a specific mental trigger is pulled." He grimaced. "It's actually happened a few times."  
  
Angel suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of Selene's gun.  
  
"What's the trigger?" Selene demanded coolly.  
  
Angel smiled at her. She'll fit right in as a Scooby. 


	3. Job Orientation

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 3 - Job Orientation  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: The universe of Underworld is a "science" based one. Expect technobabble.  
  
"I don't like vampires," was the first thing Selene's new boss told her.  
  
He was also human, something that came as a shock to the former Death Dealer. This mere man was the one in charge of all the "Scoobies" that operated in the greater Los Angeles area. Even with his missing eye, he looked much too young for such responsibilities.  
  
As she was led into a UCLA frat house, Selene wondered how Alexander Harris became one of the top people in the Slayer's regime.  
  
"I mean I really don't like vampires," Harris continued. "Vampires killed friends and acquaintances of mine, or sometimes converted them into more vampires. I can't even count the number of times vampires have tried to kill me."  
  
The man had a grudge. This did not bode well for Selene.  
  
"Yo, Xander," said a passing vampire. He had a couple other vampires with him. "Me and the guys are meeting some friends over at the Bronze. Girl type friends if you know what I mean." He winked knowingly. "You wanna come?"  
  
"I'll join you guys later," Harris replied without a trace of malice or sarcasm. He seemed completely friendly with them. "I gotta show the new girl around first."  
  
The male vampires looked Selene up and down. Selene glared back.  
  
"Okay, it's cool," the first vampire said, winking at Harris again. "Take your time."  
  
"Man, why does he get all the pretty girls?" grumbled a second vampire as they walked away.  
  
"Haven't you heard?" the third vampire said. "All the pretty girls Harris Harris gets try to." The voice faded off as they left earshot.  
  
Selene was left wondering what pretty girls try around Xander.  
  
"What was I saying?" Harris asked, leading her down a hallway.  
  
"That you don't like vampires, Mr. Harris," Selene supplied helpfully as they stopped in front of a full body length pyramid inset in the wall. This might not be so bad after all.  
  
"Right, I don't," Harris agreed. He tapped out a code on a number pad set next to the mirror. The mirror slid aside to reveal the interior of an elevator. They stepped inside. "That aside, I'm glad to have you. Call me Xander. Everyone else does. We don't get many Death Dealers around here. Angel's way too busy being a CEO nowadays, and Spike." He trailed off.  
  
"What about Spike?" Selene asked as the elevator descended. She wondered who Spike was. Angel had mentioned him.  
  
"Spike likes to do his own thing," Xander said. "He doesn't take orders well. Depending on who you ask, he either quit or was fired from being a Death Dealer long before he ever came to Los Angeles." The elevator stopped and the door opened. "Selene, welcome to Scooby Central."  
  
"Very nice," Selene commented. They stepped out onto a catwalk that overlooked a multistory room that had obviously been built out of a natural cavern. The place was a hive of activity, broken up into several subsections dedicated to different things.  
  
"In case you're wondering," Xander continued, leading her down the stairs to the main floor, "this place was originally built by the government to study the things that go bump in the night. Y'know, vampires, werewolves, and demons. They'd catch them and do experiments and all that jazz."  
  
"So how did you get this place?" Selene asked, disturbed by the implications. She had no idea that any human government had taken such a close interest in their affairs.  
  
"Oh, the scientist in charge fell victim to Hellmouth Syndrome," Xander answered. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"What syndrome?"  
  
"Hellmouth Syndrome," Xander repeated. "It's a kind of temporary insanity. See, the Hellmouth - Mouth of Hell if you want to be formal - puts out all sorts of funky vibes. I've seen it affect everyone. Human, vampire, demon, it doesn't matter what you are. Hellmouth Syndrome is characterized mostly by a person becoming so obsessed with something, that they become blind to the dangers of whatever they're doing. You can snap a victim out of it if you diagnose it early enough. Maggie Walsh, the scientist who used to run this place, didn't get diagnosed - heck didn't even know it existed - and built a cyborg Frankenstein's monster from bits of humans and different critters her soldiers had caught. The monster in turn tried to slaughter everyone to build more like himself. We stopped him and moved in after the government pulled out."  
  
Selene mulled over this as Xander led her over to a large central pit. In it, a young human woman was apparently teaching a class on hand to hand combat to a mixed group of vampires, lycans, and humans. All the humans, Selene noticed, were girls in their teens. The teacher had all the charm of a drill sergeant.  
  
"That's Kennedy," Xander explained, pointing to the teacher. Kennedy and one of the lycan students squared off. Kennedy was apparently demonstrating something. "She teaches the newbies the basics of combat."  
  
"Isn't she a little." Selene began to ask.  
  
The lycan burst forward in a superhuman blur of speed. Moving equally fast, Kennedy dodged the first blow and had the lycan flat on the mat with his arm twisted around his back.  
  
".outmatched?" Xander finished for her. "Nah, Kennedy's a Slayer."  
  
"A Slayer?" Selene repeated in surprise. She looked back at the class. "Are all those girls Slayers?"  
  
"Yep," Xander confirmed. "We've got maybe two dozen here in Los Angeles. We know of a few hundred more around the world."  
  
"A few HUNDRED?" Selene said, flabbergasted. How could that many Slayers go unnoticed for so long? "I thought they were rare. Although," She frowned thoughtfully, "I can't sense any difference between them and humans." She saw Xander stiffen. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"  
  
"Slayers ARE human," someone said quietly behind them. Selene spun around to see Los Angeles' top witch. Xander turned at a much more leisurely pace.  
  
"Hey, Willow," Xander greeted. Willow nodded acknowledgement at Xander but didn't didn't take her eyes off Selene.  
  
"I'm sorry," Selene said. "But what do you mean?"  
  
"Sorry, you're new here so you wouldn't know," Willow said.  
  
"Know what?" Selene asked. She was getting annoyed that no one was explaining to her what was going on. Selene thought that maybe she was getting spoiled, accustomed to everyone explaining themselves.  
  
"Slayers are human," Willow repeated. "Vampires are human. Werewolves are human. In fact, so are a great many demons."  
  
"Basically, if a critter looks reasonably human in one form or another, it probably is," Xander added.  
  
"But humans, vampires, and lycans are different species," Selene disagreed.  
  
"No, we're not," Willow said. "The modern scientific definition of species is that if two individuals can mate and produce viable offspring, they're of the same species no matter how different they look externally. Human and vampire pairings can do that. So can human and werewolf pairings. We haven't seen a vampire and werewolf get together though. Actual dating between the two tends to be frowned upon by everyone but us. Although the virus that produced vampire and werewolf are incompatible, there's no reason the kid of."  
  
"Willow, please," Xander interrupted. "You're straying from technobabble into political diatribe territory."  
  
"Oh, sorry," Willow said, blushing. "My point is that vampires and werewolves are made from humans by a virus. Even after the virus changes you, you're both still basically humans with a few funky powers tacked on."  
  
"I suppose that makes sense," Selene said reluctantly. "I'm just used to thinking of us as separate species."  
  
"Well that's not surprising considering what the typical vampire's or werewolf's diet is," Xander said flatly.  
  
Selene thought about Xander's comment. Outside of Los Angeles, vampires fed on human blood, sometimes taken directly from humans, sometimes in a glass poured by others. Lycans weren't very particular about what kind of flesh they ate, human being the most accessible in cities. If you considered vampires and lycans the same species as humans.  
  
Selene suddenly felt very queasy, now understanding Michael's extreme refusal to feed on human flesh during their flight from the covens. He had been more comfortable eating frozen meat stolen from freezers. The local proscription against feeding off humans suddenly took on a whole new meaning for her.  
  
"Yeah, it's like that," Xander said sympathetically, noticing Selene's expression.  
  
"So what about the Slayers?" Selene asked, changing the subject. She didn't really want to think about her former diet anymore. "Why can't I sense them?"  
  
"As near as we can tell," Willow began, "Slayer's were originally made to hunt vampires, werewolves, and demons. Looking all small and helpless means that they can be their own bait."  
  
Selene nodded. She could name a dozen vampires off the top of her head that liked their humans young, female, and helpless. "Wait a minute," she said. "Did you say that Slayers were made?"  
  
"Yeah, she did," Xander said. "We've learned that a bunch of wizards in the Stone Age got together to create a line of warrior women to fight vamps and werewolves. They used knowledge stolen from the demon that originally created vampires and werewolves."  
  
"Vampires and werewolves were created?" Selene interrupted.  
  
"You didn't know?" Xander asked.  
  
"The elder vampires discouraged looking into the past," Selene told them.  
  
"Really?" Xander said. "Because the elder that used to live here in L.A. harped on the past all the time."  
  
"You had elders here?" Selene asked. She had found it odd that she seemed to be the oldest vampire in the city. Traditionally, the oldest vampire in a coven ruled said coven. But then, L.A. was anything but traditional. "What happened to them."  
  
"They got Slayed," Willow replied. Selene could practically hear the capital "S".  
  
"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Buffy got to be Master of the City by basically killing off the competition."  
  
"Technically, Faith killed Kakistos," Willow said thoughtfully.  
  
Selene blinked. They couldn't possibly be talking about THE Kakistos. She would have heard about the elder vampire being killed. Wouldn't she?  
  
"Yes, and Buffy damn near killed Faith once," Xander replied. "And Angel for that matter."  
  
"So, what is this about vampires being created?" Selene asked, not wanting to hear such political minutiae. That could come later. Right now, she really wanted to hear about the origins of vampires.  
  
"What, did you think vampires and werewolves naturally evolved?" Willow asked indignantly. "No way that could have happened."  
  
"C'mon, we'll let Giles explain," Xander said moving off. Willow and Selene followed.  
  
"Why can't I explain?" Willow asked, pouting.  
  
"Hey, Giles loves to talk about this," Xander replied. There was a crash from the far side of the cavern and a green fireball flew over their heads to impact harmlessly against the rocky ceiling. "Also, weren't you giving a magic class somewhere?"  
  
Willow scampered off.  
  
Xander led Selene to an area dominated by computer terminals and ancient looking books. Mostly humans manned the place although a few demons were present as well. A large, detailed map of the Los Angeles area covered the broad table in the center. Various lights of different colors flickered here and there across the map, dominated by one monstrously large pustule of violet that was in the middle of an area marked "Sunnydale". A young human-looking woman - knowing what she did about Slayers now, Selene wasn't about to take anything for granted - circled the table, studying it intently.  
  
"This is the heart of our operations," Xander told Selene as they moved through the area. "It's a combination command and control center, dispatch, and research. He pointed at the woman circling the map table. "That's Fred Burkle. She's handling dispatch tonight. She's one of Angel's people."  
  
"But she's not a vampire," Selene blurted out.  
  
"Why would she be a vampire?" Xander asked, frowning.  
  
"Because. never mind," Selene said quickly. She could have kicked herself. Selene had already seen plenty of humans working for Angel at Wolfram and Hart. Of course he'd loan some to the Scoobies.  
  
"Right, then," Xander said, dropping the subject. "Anyway, here's Giles."  
  
Giles turned out to be a middle aged human, sitting off to the side and observing the everyone else while he sipped a cup of tea. He had some ancient books next to him.  
  
"Hello, Xander," greeted Giles. He had a British accent. "Would this be the new recruit?"  
  
"Yeah, Giles, this is Selene, former Death Dealer," Xander replied. "Selene, this is Rupert Giles, former Watcher."  
  
"Former Watcher?"  
  
"The organization kinda went up in smoke," Xander explained in a way that wasn't enlightening at all. He ignored Giles indignant look. "So, Giles, Selene wants to know about the origin of vampires and everything. Seems her elders didn't like to tell."  
  
Selene nodded agreement.  
  
"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning then," Giles said thoughtfully. "Long ago, before humanity appeared on this Earth, powerful beings ruled the world. Call them gods or aliens or demons, any label is as good as another. What they weren't in anyway, shape, or form, was anything a human might understand. What little we know about them is that their departure from our world coincided with the appearance of humanity."  
  
"Don't ask how why," Xander interjected. "We don't know."  
  
"Yes, but we do know what interest they have in humanity," Giles continued. "Humans, normal humans anyway, are like unformed clay to the ancient powers. With us, they can shape - I suppose the closest modern term is 'genetically engineer' - us to their purposes."  
  
"Soldiers," Xander said, ticking off fingers. "Servants. Slaves. Guard dogs. Toys. Party snacks. Usually some combination of the above."  
  
"Er, yes." Giles took off his glasses and wiped them with a hankerchief. "In any case, as the ancient powers departed, the last one to leave created the vampires and werewolves. The vampires were supposed to take over and pave the way for the ancient powers return. The wolves were their foot soldiers and sheep dogs. But things didn't quite turn out that way."  
  
"The Slayers," Selene guessed.  
  
"Yes. Using the same knowledge that created the vampires and werewolves," Giles went on, "human wizards created a line of Slayers to fight and kill the oppressors."  
  
"Line of Slayers?"  
  
"Into every generation, one Slayer is born." Giles sounded like he was quoting something. "One girl in all the world born to combat the vampire, demons, and the forces of darkness."  
  
"One girl?" Selene asked. "But Xander said there are hundreds now."  
  
"We tweaked the system," Xander commented.  
  
"It used to be that when a Slayer died, her successor would be activated to take her place," Giles explained. "It was fairly automatic. Then last year, one of the ancient powers attempted to wipe out all the potential Slayers waiting to be activated. If it had succeeded, the ancient would have had the current Slayer killed. Even if new potential Slayers were born, there would have been no existing Slayer to activate their powers."  
  
"Wait a minute," Selene broke in. "One of the ancient powers tried to wipe out the Slayers? I thought you said they were all gone."  
  
"I said they are gone from THIS world," Giles said. "That doesn't mean they don't still try to meddle in our affairs. The old Master vampire of this city was dedicated to bringing about their return."  
  
Selene found the notion horrifying, even if she wasn't sure she believed it. If there was one thing she had absorbed from her Sire, vampires were slaves to no one. Even if vampires didn't quite rule here in Los Angeles, they weren't servants either.  
  
"That's what we Scoobies are all about," Xander said gently. "We want humanity to be free to make its own way in the universe, serving none of those ancient powers. We might occasionally take their advice and intel, or accept their gifts. But in the end, it's humanity's interest we serve. And when I say humanity, I'm including vamps, wolves, and any friendly demons in the deal."  
  
Selene didn't know what to say.  
  
"So now that you know, are you in or out?" 


	4. Meeting the Coworkers

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 4 - Meeting the coworkers  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Vampires in Underworld aren't souless. Buffyverse history has been altered accordingly.  
  
DON'T MAKE THE DOCTOR ANGRY, read the sign.  
  
Seeing it prominently displayed in Scooby Central's clinic, Michael Corvin wondered what it meant. The sign was positioned so that it was the very first thing anyone entering the clinic would notice. From the description he had been given, Michael knew that the clinic's intended patients included vampires, lycans, and demons as well as humans. Shouldn't it caution against making the PATIENTS angry?  
  
"Hey, you're the new guy, aren't you?" a vampire said, interupting Michael's thoughts. The vampire was dressed in a style that Michael thought of as "casual business". He offered Michael his hand.  
  
"Uh, yeah," Michael said, shaking the stranger's hand. "I'm Michael."  
  
"Holden Webster," the vampire replied, grinning. "I'm Scooby Central's primary psychotherapist, the lone warrior chosen to battle Hellmouth Syndrome, spontaneous insanity in our ranks, and the epidemic of soap opera relationships."  
  
"You're a shrink?" Michael asked, not quite sure if this guy was for real.  
  
"Please, we in the mental health profession abhor that term," Holden said smoothly. "If you need a confidant to talk to, I'm your vampire. If you don't quite trust me, just look to the Slayer. She talks to me all the time, although I can't say about what. Everything my patients say to me is strictly confidential."  
  
"You look a little young to be a doctor," Michael said carefully.  
  
"Hey, I'm a vampire," Holden protested. "We're ageless, remember? That means we don't get old looking. I've had all the time in the world to."  
  
"Oh please, Holden, you're young enough to be my grandson," a middle aged man said as he came out of a hallway. He was one of those "off" humans, making Michael wonder what he was exactly. The newcomer turned to Michael. "Don't let his smooth talking youngster fool you. The kid is still trying to get his psychology degree on the Internet. I'm the only one working in this clinic that has an actual medical degree of any kind. You must be my new assistant."  
  
"I guess," Michael replied. "I'm Michael Corvin. I was a medical intern. Still am I guess."  
  
"Wonderful to meet you," Michael's new boss replied. "I'm Doctor David Banner."  
  
***  
  
"Yo, have you heard?" asked the lycan. His name was Jamal. Back in his pre- lycan days, he had been just another street punk. Other than being able to wolf out at will now, he didn't look like he had left.  
  
"Heard what my potentially furry friend?" asked the foppishly dressed vampire who called himself "Lestat". Everyone else called him something rude. In any case, "Lestat" claimed to be a centuries old aristocrat. Selene, who actually WAS a centuries old aristocrat, sensed that he was a newly made vampire.  
  
Now that she thought about it, Selene had met precious few vampires - or lycans for that matter - that had been changed more that a decade ago. She idly wondered what happened to the older ones.  
  
Xander had dropped Selene off with these two after her talk with Rupert Giles. She and a bunch of other "newbies" were to be taken on a routine patrol by an experienced Scooby. Selene was supposed to get a feel how the Scoobies operated. The other two were obviously raw recruits going on their first patrol.  
  
Watching Lestat wave his epee around inexpertly, Selene privately pegged him as the one most likely to be the first casualty. Jamal at least seemed competent.  
  
"Rumor from the wide world has it that the vampire/wolf feud's stopped," Jamal said. He suddenly had Selene's undivided attention even if she didn't outwardly show it, maintaining an air of supreme disinterest. Jamal swatted Lestat. "And don't call me furry, you pansy."  
  
"Ah, has sense finally introduced itself to them?" Lestat asked, his fake french accent slipping a few times.  
  
"Nah, it's fear," Jamal replied. "Apparently there's some kind of vamp/wolf hybrid monster on the rampage, taking out vampire covens right and left. The vamps are all focused on hunting this thing down. They think it's a threat to all vamp-kind. The wolves on the other hand, they think it's some kind of Messiah."  
  
The lycan and foppish vampire stared at each other for long seconds. Then they broke out laughing together.  
  
"I wonder... what they'd make of a Turok-Han," Lestat wheezed, accent completely gone.  
  
"Or... or the Scourge," Jamal added.  
  
They broke out into more laughter. Selene didn't know whether to be glad that they didn't think Michael was a threat, or annoyed that they considered her former family to be provincial and backward.  
  
***  
  
"You mean we're it?" Michael asked in surprise.  
  
"Pretty much," Holden replied. "We three are the only people keeping the Scoobs all healthy and sane. I'm the guy specializing on the sane part, you're new, and the Doc turns into the angry green giant about once a week or so."  
  
"How do three guys do that?" Michael asked. "Keep everyone healthy I mean. I heard that there's one or two hundred people working here."  
  
"It's not quite so bad," Dr. Banner reassured him. "A lot of altered humans and demons have some kind of super healing and are resistant to disease. It seems like a popular feature that the ancient powers engineered into them. Regular humans tend to use public hospitals for routine medical work. We're mostly here for emergencies, treating battle wounds, and the occasional hell spawn malady that conventional medicine has never heard of."  
  
"Okay, I see your point," Michael said thoughtfully.  
  
"In the meantime, I occupy myself with research," Dr. Banner continued. "I'm doing comparative physiology, studying what makes us different and what makes us the same. My notes also have the added benefit of being useful in treating some of our more exotic patients. Er, do you mind if I run a few tests on you, Michael?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I understand you're a one of a kind?" Michael nodded. "Well, in that case, it would help if I had a record of what exactly is healthy for you. Just in case something happens to you, you understand."  
  
"Of course." Michael sighed. "Okay, let's get this over with, Doctor."  
  
"Call him 'Doc'," Holden suggested. "Everyone else does."  
  
"Please, no," Dr. Banner said, exasperated. "Come this way, please." He led Michael to an examination room. Holden followed.  
  
"So, can you give me an example of your research?" Michael asked.  
  
"Hmm, trying to figure out what exactly gives a Slayer her powers has been interesting," Dr. Banner commented as he poked and prodded.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Take the Summers sisters for example," Dr. Banner said. "The elder sister is a petite blonde Slayer. The younger sister is taller and has dark hair and most certainly isn't a Slayer. I suspect that line of research will be the key to unlocking the mechanism of Slayer powers. Whatever agent makes a girl into a Slayer seems to have altered the elder Summers' appearance."  
  
"Why?" Michael asked, frowning. "Being sisters, I know they'd have similar DNA. But they couldn't be that similar."  
  
"My boy, that's just it," Dr. Banner chuckled. "By some fluke, they have exactly identical DNA. If I hadn't known where they had come from, I'd swear that the DNA samples had come from identical twins!"  
  
***  
  
"Hi! I'm Dawn."  
  
"Yo."  
  
"Greetings, milady."  
  
The dark-haired girl who next joined their little group certainly seemed human emough. Knowing what she knew now though, Selene was unwilling to make that assumption. In a group that consisted of two vampires and a lycan, it was only logical to conclude that this Dawn was a.  
  
"Are you a Slayer?" Selene asked.  
  
"Who me? No," Dawn replied. "I'm your team witch."  
  
"Team witch?" Selene echoed, a question implicit in her tone.  
  
"Yeah, witch," Dawn said. She held out her hand palm up and concentrated. Little green lights began dancing around above it. "It's a new thing we're trying. I'm sort of a combo field medic, forensic investigator, and radio operator. Oh, and I can do fire support if I have to." The lights over her hand merged and changed into a floating fireball.  
  
"So, tell me, what exactly is magic?" Selene asked carefully. Childhood stories told to her by her mother danced in Selene's memories. Selene realized that the old tales had given her a medieval attitude toward witchcraft; the times she had grown up in were literally medieval after all. The fact that Selene's beliefs about lycans had completely changed recently helped her adjust. If lycans weren't what she had originally believed them to be, what about witches?  
  
Dawn let the fireball dissipate and scrunched up her face. "Magic is the direct manipulation of quantum effects on a macroscopic scale by the human brain to create a desired result," she said, obviously reciting from rote memory.  
  
"What does that mean?" Selene asked, confused.  
  
"I haven't a clue," Dawn answered sheepishly. "But Willow made us memorize it anyway." She shrugged. "The magic lessons were focused more on application than theory anyway."  
  
***  
  
"Are you done, Doctor?" Michael asked.  
  
"Maybe," Dr. Banner replied. "Do you have an alternate form?"  
  
"A what?"  
  
"Y'know, werewolves go furry. Vamps sprout fangs," Holden supplied helpfully. He nodded at Dr, Banner. "The Doc literally turns green and gains a few pounds."  
  
"Oh, that," Michael said. "Yeah."  
  
"Holden, are you deliberately trying to aggravate me?" Dr. Banner asked the vampire.  
  
"Consider it part of your anger management therapy," Holden told him. "You gotta be able to withstand a little ribbing if you want to associate normally with people."  
  
Dr. Banner shook his head and rolled his eyes before turning back to Michael. "If you can control yourself," he said to Michael, "I'd like to see your alternate form."  
  
"So you can run more tests?" Michael asked.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well. okay," Michael agreed. He concentrated. and let himself go. His eyes went black with no hint of a difference between iris, pupil, or white. Michael's skinned paled to a dead white, the muscles underneath becoming much more visible and defined. The tips of his fingers changed into wickedly sharp claws. The bones in his legs morphed and rearranged themselves into a more wolfy arrangement.  
  
"Huh, cool," Holden commented.  
  
"Fascinating," Dr. Banner added.  
  
"Glad you feel that way," Michael growled.  
  
***  
  
"Okay people, follow me," said a seemingly ordinary man as he barged through their little gathering without so much as looking at them. "My name is Ash and I'll be your guide tonight to L.A.'s underworld. In case you haven't heard, we're more like police officers than soldiers in an army. That means we ask questions first and shoot later unless there's a definite risk to life and limb, especially ours. Tonight, you do what I say and when I say it. If you can't, let me know now and we'll see if we can boot you off the force. Any questions?"  
  
"Er, what are you?" Jamal asked as they followed Ash towards the armory.  
  
"Me? I'm one hundred percent human, baby," Ash said. He held up his right hand. It was obviously plastic. "Except for the prosthetic hand, I don't have any augmentation of any kind. And before one of you kids starts a pissing contest over my credentials, I'd like to see you take out an army of animated skeletons first. Single-handedly."  
  
There was silence for a moment.  
  
"Whoa, you're THAT Ash?" Lestat asked, impressed enough to forget his accent again.  
  
"Yeah," Ash grunted.  
  
They arrived at the armory. Like the one at Selene's old coven, the Scooby armory was an open-air affair enclosed by a chain link fence though larger. Weapons of all kinds were racked neatly and sorted by type. In addition to a variety of guns, there were also numerous swords, axes, and other bladed weapons. There was a door that looked suspiciously like a vault door set against the adjoining wall. The armory's gate was wide open and no one was present. That looked like bad security to Selene.  
  
Ash knocked on the lid of a trashcan that sat just next to the gate. "Hey, Oscar!" Ash shouted at the trashcan.  
  
The lid lifted, revealing a furry green creature that reeked of garbage. "What d'ya want?" it asked grumpily, eyeing them suspiciously. It wore the trashcan lid like a hat.  
  
"I'm taking a bunch of newbies out, Oscar," Ash told the demon. "I need to get them fitted out."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, hold on a sec," Oscar grumbled. It - he? - reached down and pulled a clipboard out of the depths of his trashcan. "Yeah, here ya are. Go on in." Oscar disappeared back into his trashcan.  
  
"Alright, kiddies, listen up," Ash said as he led them into the armory proper. "The recommended combat load for a Scooby is two guns and a melee weapon. Since the bulk of L.A.'s nightlife is of the vampire and werewolf variety, one gun is to be loaded with ammo gel rounds. The gel is a mix of silver nitrate and a UV radiant something invented by the previous tenants of Scooby Central. They're the bullets that glow in the dark."  
  
Selene was familiar with gel rounds. Both vampires and lycans had just started using them when she had left their ranks. For obvious reasons, they hadn't combined the two substances together as the Scoobies had done. Selene wondered if she was going to have to kill a fellow vampire. The prospect didn't perturb her as much as she thought it should.  
  
"Your second gun," Ash continued, hauling out several boxes of ammunition and putting them on a table, "will be loaded with Teflon coated armor piercers. Those are the bullets with the silvery-looking finish. Although they are popularly known as 'cop-killers', I like to call them 'demon-killers'. Some demons have some pretty good natural armor and gel rounds just suck at penetration. Not only that, most demons aren't allergic to silver or ultraviolet radiation anyway. However, an armor piercer in the brain will just about stop any demon, even if they can heal the injury. The trick sometimes is actually figuring out where they keep their brain. Don't forget to pick up extra magazines for your guns and definitely DO NOT FORGET which gun is loaded with what ammo."  
  
Selene obediently loaded her guns with the recommended ammunition. Luckily, her own personal weapons used a common caliber, so she didn't have to resort to borrowing guns from the armory.  
  
"Finally, there's your melee weapon. This one is mine," Ash said, picking up a chainsaw. "Whether you use a sword, axe, or baseball bat, sometimes bullets just don't cut it and you gotta resort to old fashioned WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"  
  
Everyone jumped. Ash was glaring at the other human member of their party. Dawn had been examining a fire ax she had picked up. Someone had carved the end of ax's wooden handle carved into a sharp point.  
  
"I'm your team witch," Dawn said defensively. She unconsciously held the fire ax in front of her in a ready position.  
  
"You're the Slayer's sister!" Ash shouted at her. Selene suddenly realized that Dawn hadn't given her last name. No one else had. "I am not going to be responsible for you getting hurt!"  
  
"Hey, I've been on patrol with Buffy," Dawn retorted, bristling. "And I didn't even know much magic back then. I can hold my own in a fight."  
  
"No, absolutely not," Ash said resolutely. "I want another witch."  
  
"Fine, I'll get the alternate for tonight," Dawn told him. There was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. "I hope you like Andrew better."  
  
Ash hesitated. "Andrew. As in Andrew Wells?"  
  
Dawn nodded.  
  
"Don't go anywhere, kid," Ash told her. "Load up. You're with us tonight." 


	5. Team B

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 5 - Team B  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Don't try this at home, kids. The experts are fictional.  
  
"You tried to bite me!"  
  
"I said I'm sorry! What more do you want?"  
  
Of all the things that could have happened on Selene's first night patrol, this would have been the last thing she had expected. Given some of the stories she had heard, what Selene had expected were running gun battles with cultists, maybe even hostile demons bent on destroying the world.  
  
"Okay, you two," Ash said, interrupting the ongoing argument. "Why don't you both calm down and tell me what's going on."  
  
What Selene hadn't expected was a. a domestic dispute.  
  
"He tried to bite me!" the girl exclaimed, pointing at her significant other. Neither could possibly be older than twenty.  
  
"It was an accident," the guy retorted. "We got all hot and heavy and." He shrugged. The boy was a vampire. His girlfriend looked perfectly human. He rubbed the bump on his head painfully. "Ouch. You didn't have to hit so hard."  
  
"You didn't have to try and bite me," the girl shot back. That started another round of shouting. Ash tried with little success to get between them again.  
  
"Slayer?" Selene whispered questioningly to Dawn.  
  
"Yeah," Dawn whispered back, not taking her eyes off the fighting couple. "A lot of the new Slayers use Buffy as their role model. That includes getting a vampire boyfriend even if they aren't compatible with each other. I mean, sure, Buffy's had two vampire boyfriends, but it didn't work out with either of them." Dawn rolled her eyes at the fighting couple. "Somehow, girls like her conveniently forget that little fact."  
  
Selene frowned, remembering the kiss Buffy had given Angel at the party she had met them at. "Angel and Buffy aren't dating?" Selene asked.  
  
"Oh no," Dawn answered. "They're just good friends." She blushed. "Very. Good. Friends."  
  
"Okay, you two," Ash was saying, tiredly. "If either of you want to press assault charges."  
  
"What?" the Slayer gasped.  
  
"No!" the vampire exclaimed at the same time.  
  
"We love each other!" they both chorused.  
  
"Why couldn't it be Deadites?" Ash muttered to himself, squeezing the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. "All they do is try to kill me."  
  
***  
  
A pulsing yellow dot appeared on the map table. Fred studied it for a moment, determining its exact location in the Los Angeles area. Her eyes searched to the nearest green dot and spotted it right away. It was marked with the letter "B".  
  
"An unregistered portal has just appeared on Sepulveda between Seventh and Sixth Streets," Fred announced. "Team B is the closest." One of the dispatchers nodded started calling Team B.  
  
"Team B," Giles murmured, approaching the table. "Isn't that the one with the new people?"  
  
"Yeah, it is," Fred answered. "Don't worry though. They've got that ex Death Dealer with them, and Ash and Dawn know what they're doing."  
  
"Dawn?" Giles frowned. "I thought it was Andrew who was supposed to be with Team B tonight."  
  
"I saw Dawn leave with Team B," Fred told the older man. "Is there a problem?"  
  
"Well, it's a school night for starters," Giles said. "Buffy won't be happy about this."  
  
"Oh." Fred stared at the green dot for a long moment. "I won't tell Buffy if you won't."  
  
***  
  
So much for being inconspicuous, Selene thought.  
  
Walking down the street, the team couldn't help but draw stares from passing humans. Had any of them been alone or had they dressed alike, they wouldn't have drawn a second glance in Los Angeles. As it was, they had all dressed differently. The team looked to passersby like they didn't belong together, but acted as if they did. The only unifying clothing they had were long coats to conceal weaponry.  
  
Ash was dressed in a style one might call "non-descript normal". Jamal looked like a gangbanger, which Selene understood he actually used to be. Lestat looked like a color blind noble in King Louis XIV's court. Between the tight leather pants, tank top, and an assorted electronic devices adorning her person, Dawn had earlier described herself as looking like "geek's dream hooker". Selene herself was in her typical head-to-toe skintight black leather.  
  
On the other hand, they moved together like a pack of sharks. This had the handy benefit that most of the people on the street got out of their way and kept the catcalls to a minimum.  
  
"I don't get it," Lestat was saying, not even bothering to force a fake accent.  
  
"Get what, Pansy?" Jamal asked.  
  
"Why were we bothering with." He waved his hands vaguely. ".that?"  
  
"You mean the 'loving' couple?" Ash asked from where he had taken point.  
  
"Yeah," Lestat said. He shook his head. "I mean, oui!"  
  
"You might recall that I said that we're like cops," Ash said. "That means like regular cops, we keep the peace among ourselves. That includes mediating disputes between individuals, races, factions, and so on. That includes domestic disputes, something even regular cops deal with."  
  
"But what about invaders from dimension X and all that?" Lestat practically wailed.  
  
"'Invaders from Dimension X'?" Ash repeated, eyebrows rising. "Kid."  
  
Dawn chirped. All eyes turned toward her. She chirped again.  
  
"Excuse me," Dawn said quickly, pulling out a cell phone.  
  
".it looks like you'll get your chance," Ash told Lestat.  
  
***  
  
"Hi, welcome to the Ministry of Peace," greeted the woman who answered the door. "I'm Barbara."  
  
"Hi, Barbie. Can I call you Barbie?" Ash greeted in return, barging past the woman. The rest of the team followed him inside. "I'm Ash."  
  
"Um, hello," Barbara said, closing the door. "Can I help you?" Whatever this Barbara was, Selene was absolutely certain that she wasn't human. And by Jamal's and Lestat's reactions, they knew it too.  
  
"I'm kinda curious, Barbie," Ash drawled as he circled the apartment. The place obviously doubled as some kind of business although furniture was sparse. "What exactly do you do here?"  
  
The vampires and sole lycan spread out, examining this and that. Selene followed Dawn. The human girl seemed to be following something only she could sense.  
  
"Oh, we're a charity organization," Barbie said nervously, eyeing her intruders nervously. "We help kids on the street who don't have anyone."  
  
"Kids who don't have anyone, huh?" Ash said, his voice tinged with sarcasm. "Yeah, I'll bet you do."  
  
"What's this?" Dawn asked. She and Selene were standing above a basin filled with a black oily liquid.  
  
"Oh, that's our baptismal pool," Barbara said blandly, moving up behind them. Ash followed closely.  
  
"I don't think so," Dawn said, turning to face Barbara. She pointed at the pool. "That is a portal."  
  
Selene had been a professional for centuries. She managed to resist doing a most unprofessional double take. Somehow, she had expected an interdimensional portal to look more impressive, maybe with sparkling lights or something.  
  
"Oh, I guess there's no fooling you guys," Barbara sighed. Then with surprising speed, she hit Dawn, sending the girl tumbling back into the pool. Selene hand bolted out to catch the young witch, but Barbara's follow up strike sent Selene over as well. Selene automatically latched onto the nearest handhold. Unfortunately, Barbara was the first thing Selene grabbed.  
  
The three of them tumbled into the portal.  
  
***  
  
"Oh, damn," Ash commented.  
  
Realizing that something was wrong, Lestat and Jamal took a step towards him.  
  
***  
  
"You are nothing!" the overseer screamed at the fresh meat. The overseer looked like he was made out of spare parts. "From now on, you have no name, no identity but what we give you! Death awaits any who defies us!" He stopped in front of one defiant looking human. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"  
  
Before he realized the human had moved, he was staring at the end of some object in the human's hand. An instant later, he lacked eyes to stare with. But that was okay. His brain had ceased to function as well.  
  
"What? No quip?" Dawn asked as Selene lowered her gun.  
  
"Quip?" Selene looked at Dawn, confused. Had she done something wrong?  
  
"Never mind," Dawn said, shaking her head sadly. The girl turned to the others present. They were mostly teens in ragged white shifts. "Anyone not having fun, follow us!"  
  
"Hey, do you have a spare gun?" a boy about Dawn's age asked, coming to the fore. Unlike most of the kids, he was wearing normal clothing. "I owe these guys some payback."  
  
"You know how to use one?" Selene asked.  
  
"Yeah, I have lots of experience," the boy answered crisply. Selene believed him. The way he moved suggested that he had combat training somewhere. Selene handed him her spare gun. "Thanks." The boy said.  
  
"Okay, let's get a move on," Dawn said. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated. "The portal home is." She spun and pointed at a blank wall. ".that way."  
  
"Gee, that's a great help," the boy said.  
  
"So we'll have to go around," Dawn said dismissively, moving towards the sole exit. Everyone else followed. "At least I know which way to go mister-I'm-too-good-introduce-myself. I'm Dawn, by the way."  
  
"Selene," Selene added.  
  
"Jack," the boy replied. "Jack O'Neill."  
  
***  
  
The Slayer was going to kill him, was Ash's second thought. He had lost her baby sister.  
  
Jamal and Lestat were half way to him.  
  
***  
  
"Kill them! Kill them all!" shrieked the demon Barbara. She didn't look quite so pretty without her human disguise. A hail of bullets sent her diving for cover.  
  
A guard swung at Selene with a sickle. Stepping inside the arc of the swing, Selene grabbed the guard's descending wrist with her free hand and twisted, flipping the guard aside and breaking his arm. Selene used the momentum to drive a foot into another guard's neck, breaking the spine.  
  
"I don't get it!" Jack shouted, dropping three guards running at them from a side corridor with headshots.  
  
"Get what?" Selene asked as they moved into a corridor. They seemed to be momentarily free of guards. Between the human slaves toiling away and the ghastly. decorations, this place was an industrial horror.  
  
"These are aliens, right?" Jack continued, reloading his borrowed weapon with a fresh magazine. "Where are the ray guns? Or any other kind of gun for that matter. The most advanced technology I've seen around here was a crossbow."  
  
Selene just shrugged.  
  
"This is it. The portal's here!" Dawn said excitedly as they entered a wide, high-ceiling corridor that resembled the interior of a cathedral. They could see the portal. They could also see its guard. "Oh crap."  
  
The demon was at least ten feet tall. It had a skull-like face that was lit from with in. Sprouting from its back was a pair of bat like wings that were literally on fire. In its right hand was an equally flaming whip, scaled up to the demon's size. It stomped towards them  
  
"What the hell is that thing?" Jack shouted as he and Selene shot at the demon's face. The bullets seemed to have no effect.  
  
"A Balrog," Dawn answered, staring.  
  
***  
  
Lestat and Jamal had arrived, flanking Ash on both sides and looking confused.  
  
Ash considered diving into the portal after Dawn and Selene. Then he saw the portal was quickly shrinking.  
  
***  
  
"EXTINGUA INCENDRE!" Dawn shouted, pointing at the Balrog.  
  
The flames on the demon's wings and whip guttered and went out. The glow inside its head also died. The Balrog looked comically surprised for a moment before collapsing in a heap.  
  
"Is it dead?" Selene asked as the escapees scooted around the unmoving body.  
  
"No idea," Dawn said, shaking her head. She looked exhausted now. "Let's not stay around to find out."  
  
"Seconded," Jack put in.  
  
"Excuse me," one of the unarmed refugees said. "We can't get through."  
  
Their heads whipped around. The portal was just above head height. It was also too small to fit anyone but a toddler through and was slowly but visibly getting smaller.  
  
"No, don't close," Dawn said to the portal, pushing through the crowd to get closer. "Don't close. Don't close! DON'T! CLOSE!"  
  
There was an explosion of emerald light.  
  
***  
  
Fred blinked. The rogue portal on the map table had changed from yellow to green. Having helped design the map table, Fred knew that the sensors must have detected a shift in the portal's energy signature, switching the color from "unknown" to "friendly".  
  
But having helped designed the system, Fred was surprised to see an icon she didn't recognize flashing an alarm above the portal.  
  
"Giles, do you know what this key symbol stands for?" Fred asked.  
  
The teacup Giles was sipping from slipped from nerveless fingers to shatter on the floor.  
  
***  
  
Ash was about to give up on his missing team members when the portal blazed alive. From dead black to brilliant green, the portal widened back to its original size, rippling like the surface was water.  
  
An unconscious Dawn was pushed through the surface. Ash, Jamal, and Lestat were quickly busy, pulling her and a flood of others out.  
  
***  
  
"Looks like we're the last two out," Jack commented.  
  
"Yes, it does," Selene commented.  
  
"And we're surrounded," Jack continued, eyeing the hundreds of guards arrayed at the other end of the hall on both sides of the inert Balrog. Several were actually climbing over the giant demon. The guards were maintaining a respectful distance from the duo's guns. They could see crossbows being passed around. The guards apparently intended to deluge the two of them with a rain of arrows.  
  
"Essentially, yes."  
  
"And we have what? Maybe half a dozen bullets left between us?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
Jack looked up, seeing the foot of the last refugee disappear into the portal above. "And only one of us can get the other out. That one has to stay behind because it's too high to jump."  
  
"Hmm, no."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Trust me." With that, Selene grabbed Jack with one hand. Using her vampire strength, she hurled the teenager upward into the portal before he could react. Using the recoil of the throw, Selene went into a crouch. She uncoiled in the same moment that the locals unleashed their crossbows. As she entered the portal, she felt something strike her in the thigh.  
  
An instant later, she was through the portal and hands were pulling her upward. Selene found herself staring into Ash's face. Was he blurry?  
  
"Whoa, you're hurt!" Ash said, his voice seeming to come from far away. He was looking down, away from her face.  
  
Selene looked down and saw an arrow protruding from her thigh. She thought that strange. Shouldn't it hurt? "It's just a flesh wound," she murmured. It didn't hurt, so it must not be too bad.  
  
Everything went black.  
  
***  
  
Harsh white light flooded Selene's senses. Was she dead? There was light. And there was a face filling her vision. Maybe this was God. But it was odd. God looked a lot like.  
  
"Michael?" she gasped.  
  
"Selene!" Michael's face replied. "Thank God! You're awake."  
  
Selene's mind was clearing fast. She hadn't realized until now how groggy she had been. Selene realized that she wasn't dead and that really was Michael in front of her. She was lying down too.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"You're in the Scooby Central clinic," Michael told her.  
  
"What am I doing here?" Selene asked. Bits and pieces of the battle were coming back to her. "The team. What happened to the team?"  
  
"Everyone's fine," another man in a white lab coat said, appearing next to her bed opposite of Michael. "In fact, you were the one who gave us the biggest scare. I'm Doctor Banner by the way."  
  
"Huh?" Selene said brilliantly.  
  
"You got hit with a poison arrow," Dr. Banner explained to her. "The poison was designed specifically to kill off the vampires by attacking the virus that makes you what you are. It's colorfully known as 'Killer of the Dead'. Luckily we had the cure on hand."  
  
"What's that?" Selene asked.  
  
"Slayer blood," said a third person. A new face appeared at Selene's bedside. "Mine specifically. Hi, I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Kennedy."  
  
"Slayer blood?" Selene's eyes widened. "I drank."  
  
"No, you didn't," Michael said quickly. "We did a transfusion."  
  
"Oh," Selene said, unsure if she should be relieved. Things like transfusions still seemed new-fangled to her centuries old self.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Kennedy told her. "I'm told that Transfusion took way less blood than drinking would have anyway. Besides, how could I deny the hero of the hour?"  
  
"Huh?" Selene said again.  
  
"You saved lives tonight, honey," Michael told her gently. "From the Scourge no less. Word's spreading like wild fire."  
  
"I'd ask who the Scourge is, but I'm too tired right now," Selene said. She yawned.  
  
"Of course, get some rest," Dr. Banner said paternally.  
  
***  
  
"How are our guests, Fred?" Giles asked.  
  
"We got them stashed in a safe house for now," Fred answered. "For those who want to, we're arranging a ride home."  
  
"Good, good," Giles said absently, examining the poisoned arrow that had been pulled out of Selene's leg. From what Jack O'Neill had told them, the Scourge had enough of these to equip an army. The Killer of the Dead worked on the werewolf strain of the virus as well as the vampire strain, albeit at reduced efficiency. The bulk of the combat capable Scoobies were vampires and werewolves as well.  
  
The implications were. ominous. 


	6. Haunted

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 6 - Haunted  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: I like this episodic format. And lots of people seem to agree.  
  
Viktor was dead.  
  
After all this time, Marcus still had trouble at times wrapping his mind around the concept. His fellow Elder was dead. They were vampires. They were supposed to live for eternity, amusing themselves with their little games while the youngsters jockeyed for their favor. But now.  
  
Viktor was dead.  
  
They had worked out a grand plan, combining their covens not by conquest, but by compromise. They would rule in turn, one by one. One would be awake while the others got much needed rest. Between their combined numbers and the ability to always have an Elder awake to direct their strength, the vampire covens and Elders who had NOT joined them could only bow their collective heads in submission. They were the superpower of the vampire world.  
  
Viktor was dead.  
  
Although the stories Marcus had heard were confused and contradictory, he had managed to pick out gets of truth from the dross of wild rumors. Viktor had fallen victim to the war he had started so long ago with their ancient guard dogs. The war with the lycans had begun over a breach of caste separation, when the lycan Lucian had fathered a child with Sonja, Viktor's daughter. It had always been Viktor's war. Marcus had always been annoyed that he had to fight their rebellious slaves. But Viktor was his peer and so had Marcus' support. Now, Marcus no longer had to fight this war anymore. After all.  
  
Viktor was dead.  
  
Marcus' fellow Elder died in mortal combat fighting the abomination that the lycan Lucian had created. Though newly made, the untrained whelp had managed to fight an Elder vampire to a standstill. But Lucian's creation had not delivered the killing blow. Oh no, the killing blow had been delivered by Viktor's replacement for Sonja, the Death Dealer Selene.  
  
Viktor was dead.  
  
For that, Marcus would make Selene pay dearly.  
  
***  
  
"Home sweet home," Michael announced, opening the door to their new apartment. He waved Selene forward with a courteous bow. "Ladies first."  
  
"Thank you, kind sir," Selene replied formally as she stepped past him, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. Michael's impromptu show of chivalry amused her. While Selene had been recovering from her excursion into the Scourge's dimension for a couple days, Michael had gone apartment hunting.  
  
"I hope you like the place," Michael said as Selene looked around. "It's no mansion but."  
  
"Shh. It's wonderful, Michael," Selene told him, placing a finger on his lips. True, the apartment was smaller than what Selene was used to. But neither of them had any intention of housing a vampire coven or a pack of lycans. With just the two of them, the tastefully decorated apartment had plenty of room. They embraced each other. "Thank you."  
  
Their lips met passionately. A cold breeze momentarily wafted over them. Michael drew back.  
  
"Whoa, I think we might want a little privacy," he chuckled quietly. He reached back with one hand to close the open front door. The other kept Selene intimately close. Once done, they got even closer.  
  
***  
  
Marcus was pulled from his thoughts. One of the youngsters had entered his throne room, his entreance alone a clamor for attention. No one else was present for the simple reason that Marcus had desired to be alone.  
  
Marcus opened his eyes and looked down upon Kahn, the leader of his Death Dealers. Kahn alone had actually witnessed Viktor's death. He had claimed that he had been too far away to stop Selene in time, had not even imagined that she would deliberately take her lord's life. Marcus was suspicious of this story, keeping close watch on Kahn. If Viktor's most loyal follower could turn on him, why not Kahn whose only loyalty to Marcus was out of duty?  
  
"You have news?" Marcus rasped.  
  
"Yes, milord," Kahn answered crisply. Marcus knew he intimidated the younger vampire. Kahn hid it well, but Marcus could detect an undercurrent of fear in his voice and mannerism. That was as it should be. "We have received replies from almost all of the unaligned covens, milord. They report that neither Selene nor Michael Corvin have been seen in their territories. They also promise to keep a lookout for them."  
  
"You said 'almost all' of the unaligned covens have replied," Marcus said slowly. "Who dares defy us?"  
  
"The Order of Aurelius, milord," Kahn replied promptly.  
  
"Heinrich," Marcus hissed in fury. Led by the mad Elder Heinrich, the Order of Aurelius was an apocalyptic cult that was dedicated to bringing back the Old Ones. Even though the Order had produced some of the most vicious Death Dealers for the war over the centuries, their religious mania had caused Marcus no end of trouble. "He dares defy us?"  
  
"Actually, milord, we're not even sure the Order has received our message," Kahn confessed. "Contact with the Aurellians has been few and far between in the past century. The last message we have from them was almost a decade ago, something about a harvest and that 'the Master is rising'."  
  
"Do you even know where they are?" Marcus asked dangerously. It was a good question. The Order was known to be nomadic at times, preaching their twisted religion to any vampire who would listen. They would also occasionally go on rampages that made Viktor's indulgences look insignificant in comparison.  
  
"We think they're in the city of Los Angeles," Kahn answered.  
  
Marcus had never heard of Los Angeles. It must be a city that had come to prominence while he had slept. He filed the name away in his mind for later reference.  
  
"Then perhaps it is time to remind the Order of their place," Marcus mused aloud. "We will send an emissary to them. A guard detail must be assigned. Yes?"  
  
"Of course, milord."  
  
"Yes, many guards," Marcus murmured. "Many, many guards, all of them heavily armed."  
  
***  
  
Selene woke up to the smell of blood.  
  
Opening her eyes, she saw that she and Michael were in bed. Light filtered in around drawn curtains, showing that it was still daylight out even if the window itself was out of direct sunlight. Both she and Michael had trays with built in stands carefully straddling their legs. Michael's tray had a plate of steaming ground meat and a glass of water on it. Selene's tray only had a single glass of a dark red liquid with a plastic straw in it.  
  
Michael was awake and sitting up.  
  
"Afternoon," Selene murmured, sitting up next to him.  
  
"Hey," Michael said absently.  
  
Selene picked up her warm glass and took a sip through the straw. The blood was beef, a flavor she had become familiar with since coming to Los Angeles. It had a burnt flavor that Selene had come to recognize as the result of having been in a microwave. She leaned lovingly against Michael.  
  
"Breakfast in bed. You really know how to spoil a girl," she told him. Selene noticed that Michael was picking at his own food. She frowned. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"I didn't make breakfast," Michael told her.  
  
"Oh. Do we have a servant preparing our meals then?" Selene asked, taking another sip from her glass. "I suppose I should meet him or her." Selene thought about some of the people she had met in this city and added, "Or it."  
  
"No, it's just us here. Or it should be just us," Michael replied, setting his tray aside. "I have no idea where breakfast came from."  
  
Paranoia that had been finely honed while on the run kicked into high gear. Selene quickly set her own tray aside. The couple both jumped out of bed, still stark naked. Selene quickly located her guns on a dresser next to their neatly folded clothes.  
  
"Okay, now I'm sure we left those on the floor between here and the front door," Michael whispered, staring at their clothing.  
  
Selene nodded agreement. "I think I hear voices from the living room," she whispered back.  
  
The two exploded from the bedroom. Selene rolled and came up, sweeping the living room with her guns. Michael came behind her. Again, they were the only ones present. The voices were coming from the television that Selene was absolutely certain had been turned off when she and Michael had gone to bed. The news was on and the volume turned down.  
  
Now that she was this close, Selene could make out what the anchorwoman was saying. ".massacre in the Toronto nightclub named the Raven. Police are not releasing details at this time except that the suspect is still at large. Rumor has it that a single woman."  
  
"Kitchen and bathroom are clear," Michael announced loudly, startling Selene. "There's nobody here but us. I can't even smell anyone else having been here." He glanced at Selene. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, nothing that involves us," Selene replied, shaking her head. Selene had more immediate worries than an attack on a vampire bar thousands of miles away. Relaxing. she lowered her guns and stood up. Selene looked down at herself and sighed. "I suppose we better get dressed."  
  
"I dunno," Michael said, grinning as he studied her up and down. "I kinda like the view."  
  
"Oh, you," Selene replied smiling, swatting him lightly on the shoulder. "You might recall you're meeting the leader of the local lycans tonight? You wouldn't want to arrive naked."  
  
"I dunno," Michael said mock innocently. "Given some of the things you've said about." His voice trailed off, his eyes going wide as they stared at something behind Selene.  
  
Reacting instantly, Selene spun around and brought her guns up. She found herself aiming them at hers and Michael's neatly folded clothing. They were gently floating out of the bedroom at the vampire.  
  
***  
  
"I'm going to Los Angeles?" Erika said in disbelief. "But why me?"  
  
"Hey, Marcus picked you," Kahn replied, shrugging. He eyed the other vampire disdainfully. "You wanted to be noticed by Marcus. He noticed. Why are you complaining?"  
  
Erika was a social climber. Kahn was of two minds about her. The part of him that was a warrior considered her a waste of space. Erika existed only to promote one thing: herself. She lusted after whoever was the most powerful person around. Once, that had been Kraven, but he had turned out to be a traitor, Now it was Marcus, though the Elder was at most amused by her attempts.  
  
The part of Khan that was exclusively male thought Erika was one hot babe.  
  
"Okay, okay, I can do this," Erika said. She seemed to be trying to convince herself more that Kahn. "I can be Marcus' emissary. I'll make Marcus proud of me." She looked up at Kahn. "So what do we know about the vampires of Los Angeles?"  
  
"They're ruled by the Order of Aurelius," Khan said simply.  
  
"Okay, the Order of." Erika froze. "The Order of Aurelius? You mean the 'kill each other on a whim', 'bury their own fledglings alive', and 'in love with pain and torture' Order of Aurelius?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Oh, God, I'm going to die," Erika moaned.  
  
"If we're lucky," Khan said.  
  
Erika stared disbelievingly at Khan.  
  
Khan shrugged. "They might decide on the pain and torture first."  
  
***  
  
"Scooby Central, this is Janine speaking. How may I help you?"  
  
"This is Michael Corvin," Michael said. After dressing and finishing their breakfast, they had decided to call the experts on strange. "My girlfriend and I have moved into a new apartment. There's something. odd going on here."  
  
"Please state your address and the nature of your problem, please," Janine said brightly.  
  
Michael told her their address. "The nature of our problem?" Michael looked over at Selene. She was intently watching the dishes clean themselves. "Well, the house cleaning seems to be taking care of itself."  
  
"Oh, here it is," Janine said cheerfully. "Your residence is already marked in our files. Oh dear."  
  
"What? What is it?"  
  
"The previous tenant was a Scooby," Janine told Michael. "Oh, and your place is haunted."  
  
"We're being haunted by the ghost of a Scooby?" Michael said, almost shouting. Selene's head whipped around to stare at him.  
  
"Oh, my bad. The Scooby in question is in a coma, not dead," Janine explained. "The ghost isn't her. He was her roommate. He's a friendly spook named Dennis Pearson. No need to worry."  
  
"A ghost."  
  
"Yes," Janine said. "A quantum-psychic phenomenon where a sentient mental pattern has been transferred into a normally inert object after the cessation of normal body functions." What followed was a jargon-laden lecture that Michael only half understood.  
  
"What is it?" Selene asked when Michael hung up.  
  
Michael gave repeated what Janine had told him. When he finished, Selene grabbed Michael by his collar and pulled him close, but not in a friendly way.  
  
"You got us a haunted apartment?" she growled.  
  
"It's rent controlled and the rates were really good," Michael replied feebly. 


	7. The Competition

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 7 - The Competition  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the positive reviews. I thrive on them. I loves them. I need them, the Preciouses. I luuuvs my Precious, yes I do. ahem. On with the show.  
  
PS: There really is a big Buddhist temple in Los Angeles.  
  
"Hi! Are you Mikey?" the little boy asked.  
  
Michael regarded the dark-haired kid who had just boldly walked up to him and asked for his name. The boy couldn't possibly be older than nine or ten. He was also a lycan. For some reason, Michael had never imagined that a lycan could be so young.  
  
"Michael," he corrected. "My name is Michael."  
  
"Right, Mikey," the boy said, beaming up at him. "I'm Jordy. My Uncle Oz sent me to get you."  
  
"Um, okay," Michael replied. "Lead the way." Jordy grabbed Michael's hand and began half leading, half dragging the man across the temple grounds.  
  
When Holden had arranged a meeting with Oz for Michael, Oz had sent a message to Scooby Central for Michael to meet him at an address. For some reason, Oz had neglected to mention that the address he had sent was for LA's premier Buddhist temple. When Michael arrived, he had no idea where to find LA's top lycan in the wide sprawling complex.  
  
"So, Jordy, how long have you been a lycan?" Michael asked as Jordy led him between buildings.  
  
"A what?" Jordy threw a confused look at Michael.  
  
"A werewolf," Michael supplied.  
  
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Jordy asked, annoyed.  
  
"I did," Michael protested.  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too."  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too." Privately, Michael wondered how he had gotten into this argument.  
  
As they continued to trade nots and toos, Jordy led him around to the temple's back parking lot. A zebra striped van was parked there. Oz was standing by it talking to one of the temple's Buddhist monks.  
  
As Jordy and Michael approached, Oz and the monk bowed respectively to each other. "Thank you again for your help," the monk said as he left. Oz turned to the new arrivals.  
  
"Uncle Oz, I found Mikey!" Jordy announced.  
  
"Good for you," Oz replied, smiling and ruffling Jordy's hair. He looked up at the hybrid. "Michael."  
  
"Hi, Oz," Michael greeted in return. He nodded at the departed monk. "What was that about? Did you save them from some kind of demon attack?"  
  
"Nah, bake sale," Oz said, shaking his head. He opened the passenger door of the van and Jordy scrambled inside. Following Oz's vague hand wave, Michael got in the front passenger seat.  
  
"So where are we going?" Michael asked as Oz climbed into the driver's seat.  
  
"The Factory," Oz replied simply.  
  
"You don't say much, do you?" Michael ventured.  
  
Oz just shrugged. The silence was a bit awkward for Michael as they pulled out into traffic.  
  
"So, why didn't you come get me at Scooby Central?" Michael asked carefully. "The people I talked to said that you never go there even though you're one of the top people in the Slayer's regime."  
  
"She'd be there," Oz told him sadly.  
  
"She? She who?"  
  
"You have a girlfriend, right?" Oz asked. At Michael's nod, he continued. "And you love her with all your heart and soul?"  
  
"I'd like to think so."  
  
"Never let her go, man," Oz told him. "Girl like that only ever comes once in forever."  
  
***  
  
"Mr. Giles?"  
  
"Ah, Selene," the middle aged man greeted in reply. "How are you feeling? Are you recuperating well?"  
  
"I'm fine, thank you," Selene told him. With Michael gone to meet head of the local lycans, Selene had decided to visit Scooby Central. Staying home alone with nothing to do did not appeal to her. And having an invisible companion made her uncomfortable. "Although the invisible housekeeper takes some getting used to."  
  
"Yes, I'm given to understand friendly ghosts are rather rare," Giles said. "So what can I help you with?"  
  
"Since I'm supposed to be resting and all," Selene began, "I thought I'd do some research."  
  
"On what exactly?"  
  
"On any recurring enemies I may have to deal with," Selene told him. "I want to know my. our enemies when I see them."  
  
"Of course, of course." Pulling books off the surrounding shelves, Giles assembled a thick stack of books in front of the vampire. Some of the books looked almost new, others were practically ancient. "Here you go."  
  
Selene eyed the stack dubiously. "I don't suppose you have a short summary I could look at first?" she asked.  
  
"Ah, summary?"  
  
***  
  
"Here we are," Oz announced as they exited his van. "Welcome to the Factory, aka the Wolf Den."  
  
The dilapidated looking building that they had arrived at looked like it had been a factory once. It had seen better days until the former owners had moved their operations elsewhere, probably in search of cheaper labor. Michael could hear voices coming from inside.  
  
"So why didn't you just tell me to come here?" Michael asked.  
  
"It's a secret," Jordy said sagely.  
  
"Yeah, the werewolves who organized the local wolf pack were refugees of the vampire/wolf feud," Oz told him. "They don't want non-wolves to know where they're based." He shrugged. "I go along with it, but I'm pretty sure Buffy and the Scoobs know where this place is now."  
  
"So how'd you get to be the top lycan." Jordy threw a glare at Michael. "Er, I mean top werewolf in LA?"  
  
"Uncle Oz beat them all!" Jordy exclaimed enthusiastically. Michael's eyes went up in surprise. In his limited experience, Oz was a bit on the puny side for a lycan. Michael had trouble imagining how Oz could take the typical Lycan in a one on one fight.  
  
Oz shrugged. "It was the only way to get them to stop munching on the local human population," he said, "Otherwise Buffy would've had to slaughter them all."  
  
Entering the Factory, Michael was immediately hit by the uneasiness in the building's atmosphere. There was a small crowd of lycans listening to someone giving a speech. The mood of individual lycans ranged from excitement to fear. One of the lycans noticed their arrival and moved to intercept them.  
  
"Oz," the lycan greeted. He looked like a street kid. "Thank God, you're here."  
  
"Jamal," Oz said. "What's going on?"  
  
"Wolf from the Outside, Oz," Jamal answered. "He's recruiting."  
  
"Another one?" Oz asked.  
  
"Yeah, but this one's different," Jamal said. "He's like really old. I'm talking centuries here. I didn't even know werewolves lived that long."  
  
"Okay, I'll handle it," Oz said. He turned to Michael and his nephew. "Michael, Jordy, stay here. I'll be right back."  
  
As Oz moved into the crowd, Jamal looked at Michael oddly.  
  
"So," Jamal began slowly. "What are you?"  
  
"I'm a hybrid of vampire and ly.., werewolf," Michael replied.  
  
"For real?" Jamal asked. Michael nodded. "Huh, and here I thought you were just a story." He frowned. "Hey, weren't you at the clinic when we brought Selene in?"  
  
"Yeah, I work there now," Michael told him. "For a while there, I was afraid I was going to lose her."  
  
Jamal was looking at him funny again. "Hey, you and Selene are an item?"  
  
"Yes, why?" Michael eyed the werewolf suspiciously.  
  
"No reason," Jamal said, holding in a laugh. "But I'm gonna enjoy the look on the Pansy's face when I tell him that Selene's taken."  
  
***  
  
"Hi, Selene, whatcha doing?"  
  
"Oh, hello, Dawn," Selene replied, looking up from a particularly dusty tome. "I'm just reading up on." Selene paused. "Dawn, what are you wearing?"  
  
"What this?" Dawn ran her hands down on the skintight black body suit she was wearing. Although a few details were off, it was a credible imitation of Selene's own outfit. "Black and skintight has like become the 'in' look for all the female Scoobies. You're very popular at the moment, y'know."  
  
As if to prove Dawn's point, a couple of girls that Selene recognized as Slayers strolled by. They were also wearing form-fitting black. One was showing an excessive amount of cleavage.  
  
"That is just so. bizarre," Selene muttered.  
  
"Hey, this is Los Angeles," Dawn said. "On the Bizarrometer, this ain't nothing."  
  
"Right," Selene said, shaking her head. "Dawn, maybe you could help me out here."  
  
"Sure, what's up?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I'm trying to read up on the Scourge," Selene told the girl, "but this information seems a bit. outdated. I was wondering if you could tell me about their more recent operations and behavior."  
  
"Um, okay, but I'm no expert," Dawn said. She closed her eyes to think. "Okay, the Scourge are the Nazis of demon kind. They're dedicated to the eradication of all the 'inferior' demons - meaning anyone who isn't them - and the enslavement of humanity. We've had a few run ins with them before."  
  
"Why not the extermination of humanity as well?" Selene asked.  
  
"Well, humans are like wet cement," Dawn said. "Regular humans can be turned into other things, like vampires or werewolves. But once we get changed, we can't be turned back or turned into something else. Your boyfriend's kinda different that way."  
  
"You know about Michael?" Selene asked, surprised. "I thought it wasn't common knowledge."  
  
"It's not," Dawn said defensively. "At least not yet, anyway. I just, um, accidentally listen in on what people tell my sister."  
  
Selene shook her head in bemusement. "Back to the Scourge," she announced. "I guess I've seen an example of their enslavement program. Can you give me an example of their extermination program?"  
  
"Uh, the Scourge tried to literally nuke Los Angeles once," Dawn said.  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"They had this stolen Russian bomb they tried to smuggle into the city," Dawn elaborated. "A friend of Angel's died of radiation poisoning after disarming it."  
  
"I'm sorry," Selene said sympathetically.  
  
"It's alright," Dawn said. "I never knew him. And we got a real strong policy against racism out of it."  
  
***  
  
"What is wrong with you people?" the lycan shouted at the crowd in the factory. He was big even in human form, possibly the biggest lycan in the factory. Looking at him, Michael was sure he had seen him somewhere before. "You're lycans! Our ancient oppressors are out there hunting us down, and here you're all being friendly with them!"  
  
"Actually, we've heard that the war's over," Oz said, separating out from the crowd.  
  
"And who are you, whelp?" the big lycan sneered.  
  
"Oz. You?"  
  
"You? You're Oz?" the stranger said in disbelief. He turned to the crowd. "This is your leader, your Alpha? This. this puppy?" The crowd stirred, a combination of indignation and fear running through the assembled lycans.  
  
"I like to think of myself as more of a spiritual guide," Oz said, completely unruffled by the older lycan's insult. "So do you have a name?"  
  
"Yes, I have a name, puppy," the lycan sneered back. "I am Antonius. I was with the Great Lucian when he began the rebellion against our vampire overlords. I have fought by Lucian's side. I have killed a great many vampires, our most hated enemy."  
  
Michael suddenly knew where he recognized Antonius from. Lucian had passed on a few fragments of memory to Michael when he had first bitten him. They had mostly been about Lucian and his vampire love Sonja, but there was a jumble of other things as well.  
  
"What have YOU ever done to merit any respect?" Antonius continued.  
  
"Nothing much," Oz said, shrugging, "just helped save the world from being overrun by the forces of Hell a few times."  
  
"What, do you expect anyone to believe that?" Antonius scoffed. The crowd stirred some more. "What? You believe him?"  
  
"This is LA, Antonius," Oz said. His calm never wavered. "The apocalypse is a semi-annual event here."  
  
"Oh, I can see you people need help," Antonius said angrily. "I think I'll do you all a favor and take charge. From now on, there'll be no more fraternizing with the enemy. In fact, we'll start by eliminating the vampire filth from this city. Somebody go fetch a few humans. I want a snack while I plan our assault."  
  
"No."  
  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Antonius roared at Oz.  
  
"I said 'no'," Oz told him.  
  
"Are you challenging me, boy?" Antonius growled. Oz remained completely unintimidated, unlike virtually every other lycan in the Factory. He just stared back impassively and shrugged.  
  
"Feuding with vampires and eating humans aren't allowed in Los Angeles," Oz said reasonably.  
  
"Not allowed?" Antonius repeated. "I ask again, puppy, are you challenging me?"  
  
"If I have to," Oz said.  
  
"So be it!" With that, Antonius threw off his coat and morphed into a hulking humanoid wolf form. Without waiting for Oz to change, Antonius raised a powerful paw over Oz, bringing it down with enough force to take off the younger Lycan's head.  
  
***  
  
"So what happened to the nuclear weapon?" Selene asked.  
  
"Oh, we used it on the First Evil's army last year," Dawn told her. "It's a good thing they were in their own little pocket dimension and not a real cave under the city. Can you imagine the damage if we really had to set that thing off under Sunnydale High?"  
  
Selene had no idea what to say to that.  
  
"We do that a lot," Dawn continued. At Selene's questioning look, she added, "We come up with really innovative solutions that no one's ever tried before. We've gotten really good at it."  
  
***  
  
Antonius missed. With apparent ease, Oz dodged the blow and replied with just a poke in Antonius' back. The big lycan staggered as if he had just been shot and morphed back to human form.  
  
"You don't have to do this," Oz told the other lycan.  
  
Growling in fury, Antonius leapt at Oz, hands outstretched to tear Oz limb from limb. Again, Oz dodged and made it look absurdly easy. He reached out and gripped Antonius wrist in passing. With a twist, Antonius was flipped on his back. Oz backed off.  
  
"I can't change," Antonius said slowly as he got up. "How did you do that?"  
  
"Pressure points," Oz replied. "I disrupted the flows of your body's energy. If you know how, you can. URK!"  
  
"No more tricks, puppy," Antonius growled, his hand maintaining a chokehold on the younger lycan. His question had distracted Oz long enough for him to get a grip and bring his greater strength to bear. "Now, it's time to put an end to this farce."  
  
"Okay," Oz choked in agreement. Reaching up, Oz squeezed a couple of spots on Antonius' elbow. Antonius' arm spasmed, releasing Oz from his death grip. Dodging another attempt to grab him, Oz stepped behind Antonius and poked the back of his neck.  
  
The results were dramatic. Antonius collapsed to the ground, twitching. His eyes rolled around to glare furiously at Oz. From the way his body didn't move, it was pretty obvious that he was paralyzed from the neck down.  
  
"As I was saying," Oz continued as if he hadn't just been in a life or death fight. "If you know how, you can disable a person without hurting them. It could be just a limb or the whole body. You can heal, hurt," he looked down at Antonius, "or kill."  
  
"You think you've beaten me?" Antonius gasped. Speaking was difficult for him. "I am but one of many. Lucian may be gone, but his heir walks the Earth. Lucian's heir is a hybrid of both vampire and lycan and stronger than both. He will lead us in our crusade to eradicate the vampire filth from this world. Pray you never meet him, puppy."  
  
"Huh, I think it's a little late for that," Oz replied. He looked up at the crowd, "Michael? Could you come here please? I think the nice fanatic would like to hear what you have to say."  
  
Antonius' eyes widened as the crowd parted and ushered Michael forward.  
  
"Um, hi," Michael said uncertainly. He turned to Oz. "What do you want me to say?"  
  
"Just tell him what you told me on the ride here," Oz suggested.  
  
"Uh, well, you know that Lucian was the one who made the lycan half of me, right?" Michael asked Antonius.  
  
"Yes," Antonius replied. "You are Lucian's heir, destined to lead us against the vampires just as he had intended."  
  
"Um, no, that's not what he intended," Michael denied. "See, Lucian wanted to bring an end to the feud between vampires and lycans. He saw that the only way to do that was to bring us together, not endlessly tearing each other apart. He wanted an end to the fighting. He wanted peace."  
  
"There will be no peace until every vampire is exterminated," Antonius replied, his voice no longer belligerent. In fact, he sounded like he was pleading. "You must know this. How can you not know this? You killed the Elder Viktor, the worst of the lot."  
  
"Actually, my girlfriend killed Viktor," Michael corrected. "She's a vampire."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes," Michael said, more firmly now. "Lucian wanted peace between vampires and lycans. Here, in this city, I've seen not just peace, but outright friendship between the two. I like to think that it's the future model for the rest of our kind."  
  
"The vampire covens are hunting you even now," Antonius said. "They will never stop. We gather our strength while they're distracted."  
  
"Then they hunt me," Michael said heavily. "If that's what it takes to stop the feud."  
  
Antonius stared, true respect and not just blind zealotry now showing in his eyes. A murmur from the crowd indicated their own respect for the hybrid.  
  
"I think it's safe to let him up now," Michael told Oz.  
  
With a touch, Antonius could move again.  
  
"You're welcome to stay," Oz told Antonius as he and Michael helped him up. "But as I said, no feuding with vampires or hunting humans here. You're allowed to recruit for your cause," Oz glanced at the crowd, "but I don't think you'll find many volunteers." 


	8. Full Moon, First Night

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 8 - Full Moon, First Night  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
EMail Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Selene and Michael are not part of Buffy's inner circle. Don't expect everyone to act as though they are.  
  
"You're leaving me?" Selene asked Michael in disbelief.  
  
"No, no, no," Michael said quickly, taking her in his arms. "It's just for the three nights of the full moon. Oz takes a bunch of newly made lycans - the ones who can't control the change - and anyone else who wants to go out of the city to some wilderness retreat where they can't hurt anyone. A lycan can get out of the field trip if they prove they can go the whole three nights without going wolfy."  
  
Selene frowned. It made sense. Lycans who couldn't control themselves during the nights of the full moon were prone to hunting down and killing the first non-lycan they could find. Those were typically the young and new ones who hadn't learned to control themselves yet. But still.  
  
"Why are you going?" Selene asked. "The moon doesn't make you uncontrollable."  
  
"Oh, Oz gives these self control and meditation classes during the day," Michael replied. "I thought I ought to look into it."  
  
Selene hugged him close. "I just don't want to lose you," she whispered.  
  
"I'll be fine," Michael said soothingly. He chuckled. "After all, I'll be the toughest one out there after Oz himself."  
  
"That's not what I meant," Selene mumbled.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Selene pulled back and looked into her lover's eyes. "I've heard. stories about Lycan women."  
  
***  
  
The sun had dipped below the horizon when a Lear jet with blacked out windows touched down on the private airfield outside Los Angeles. The small plane rolled to a stop near the limousines that had been provided for the plane's passengers.  
  
The instant the sun was gone, men in business suits piled out of the limousines and took up guard positions around the jet. They were obviously armed with automatic weapons. The leader of the men was obviously uncomfortable in his own suit, but appearances must be kept up and good first impressions made.  
  
The leader stepped forward as the plane disgorged its own guards. An elegantly dressed, young looking woman followed them out. The woman was attempting to put on an air of aristocratic disdain, but coming off more like a startled rabbit.  
  
The leader of the local contingent extended his hand. "Welcome to California," he said, reciting a well-practiced speech. "The Prince of San Francisco sends his greetings."  
  
"The Elder of the United Covens sends his as well," the woman replied, placing her hand in his. He took her hand and planted a light kiss on its back. She smiled, relaxing. "Ah, it's nice to know there are some civilized vampires out here. I expect the Order of Aurelius won't be as polite as you are."  
  
"Not if what half I've heard about them is true," the man replied. "I'm Cash."  
  
"Erika."  
  
***  
  
A couple nights later, Selene practically stormed into Scooby Central. Bowling rudely past several Scoobies, she joined her squad just outside the armory. Jamal, she noticed, was present, so he could probably control himself when he saw the moon. Ash wasn't; but as Selene had learned since coming back on duty, Ash was usually the last one to arrive.  
  
"Gee, you're cheerful tonight," Dawn commented, noticing Selene's mood.  
  
"Michael's gone on that lycan field trip," Selene said shortly, pacing.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it," Jamal told Selene. "I'm sure Oz won't let anything happen to your hubby."  
  
"It's not that," Selene replied. "It's just these stories I've heard of lycan females."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Jamal said dreamily. Selene threw him a murderous glare. "Uh, that is."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Selene," Dawn said. "Oz'll keep your guy on the straight and narrow. He's been in that position himself."  
  
"He has?" Jamal asked in surprise. "He won't even look at wolf women in anything but a platonic way. And trust me, a lot of them have thrown themselves at him. He's still carryin' a torch for that witch."  
  
Dawn shrugged. "Well, I guess that's no surprise. He."  
  
"Ah, ma petite," Lestat said softly to Selene, distracting her from Dawn's gossip. "If you are lonely, perhaps I."  
  
"Don't make me hurt you," Selene told the kid, throwing him a withering glare. He withered.  
  
"Alrights boys and girls, listen up," Ash said loudly as he finally joined them. Gossiping ground to a halt as everyone turned their attention to him. "Tonight's the first night of the full moon. You all know what that means. We'll be carrying tranquilizer rounds instead of gel rounds tonight. Any questions?"  
  
Selene raised her hand. "Why tranquilizer rounds?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, right, you're new to LA," Ash said. "Despite the prohibition against making new vamps and wolves without permission from the Slayer herself, there's always at least one new wolf out every full moon. Everyone always claims that it was an accident."  
  
"Accident?" Selene repeated. How does a lycan get created by accident?  
  
"Yeah, Oz himself got bit by a toddler," Dawn added.  
  
"Exactly, so if you run into a werewolf on the rampage, tranq him," Ash told her. "The serum is specially tailored for werewolves. Aside from that, it's just a regular patrol tonight." He rapped on the trashcan next to the armory entrance. "Yo, Oscar, open up. It's Ash."  
  
The lid of the trashcan inched open. Oscar eyed them all suspiciously through the narrow gap. "Oh, it's you again," he said as if they were something disgusting dropped on the floor. By now, Selene understood that this was a part of the furry green demon's personality. "Go on in. The taser rifles are fully charged and ready to go. Remember, one to a team now!" With that, Oscar disappeared into his trashcan.  
  
"Taser rifles?" Selene asked as Ash led them inside the armory.  
  
"One of these," Ash said, taking what looked like a science fiction ray gun from a rack that was holding half a dozen others. "We kind of inherited them from the previous tenants of Scooby Central. They fire an electrical beam that'll stun almost anything. That includes werewolves in full wolf mode."  
  
Selene made skeptical noises.  
  
"Ooh, I think the lady wants a demonstration," Jamal said. He morphed into full manwolf form. Unable to speak in this form, he gestured at Ash, indicating that he wanted the human to shoot him.  
  
"Jamal, you're not going to develop an immunity to the tasers no matter how many times you get zapped," Ash told the lycan.  
  
Jamal just growled something unintelligible back.  
  
"Suit yourself," Ash sighed. He fired the taser from the hip, unleashing a writhing blue white beam that struck Jamal square in the chest. Jamal collapsed into a twitching heap and morphed back to human form.  
  
"Looks effective," Selene commented as Dawn bent down to revive the stunned lycan. "So why aren't these standard issue?"  
  
"We don't have many of them," Ash answered. "We can reproduce most of the parts, but I'm told that there's a critical component that only the government can provide. Which they don't."  
  
"WOO!" Jamal exclaimed, suddenly awakened by Dawn waving smelling salts under his nose. He sat up. "Do it again, Boss!"  
  
"Sorry, Jamal, but that's all the sadomasochism you're getting for the night," Ash told him. "All right everyone, load up!"  
  
***  
  
"I don't like this," Kahn muttered.  
  
"Don't like what?" Erika asked.  
  
They were in the Presidential Suite of the Los Angeles Hilton. The luxurious accommodations had been booked for them by the San Francisco vampires. The San Francisco vampire coven was the closest major vampire coven to Los Angeles that the United Covens had regular contact with. So it made sense for Erika to make her living arrangements in Los Angeles through San Francisco.  
  
"Everything," Kahn replied. "Where should I start? Let's see, a great deal of our security depends on the San Francisco coven, the so called 'Kindred Clans', founded by a bloodline renowned for politicking, infighting, and backstabbing each other. And because they're so busy infighting, they never could spare the energy to fight the war with the lycans. And then there are the rumors that they've actually arranged a secret peace with the lycans. Odds are that they'll betray us at the drop of a hat."  
  
"Kahn, you're a terrific Death Dealer, but this is politics," Erika replied. "And politics happen to be my specialty. The San Francisco coven dare not betray us or they'll face the wrath of the United Covens."  
  
Kahn grunted skeptically.  
  
"No, the only uncertainty here is the Order of Aurelius," Erika said confidently. "Cash and his people I can understand. The Order's Elder, Heinrich, is a religious fanatic. Who knows how he'll react to being ordered around by Marcus."  
  
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. It was Cash, returning from a scouting mission of the city. As soon as he was let through security, Cash headed straight to the bar and poured himself a full glass from the first bottle of heavy liquor he saw.  
  
"I take it you found something interesting?" Erika asked. Fascinated, she watched as Cash downed the drink in a single gulp. Normally, vampires preferred to spike their blood with alcoholic beverages rather than drink it directly. The practice mitigated the following hangovers.  
  
"You could say that," Cash croaked, pouring himself another glass. "I found a night club that's popular with the local vampires. It's also popular with the local lycans as well."  
  
"You got caught in a battle?" Kahn asked.  
  
Cash downed his second drink and began pouring more. "Only the battle of the sexes, man," Cash told them. "Three, maybe four, lycan girls came onto me while I was there."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Honestly, I know you guys think we're pretty lax in our attitude toward lycans, but these guys in LA." Cash shuddered. "They were like partying with each other."  
  
"That's." Erika groped for an appropriate word. ".insane."  
  
"Insane does describe the Order," Khan said grimly. "I hadn't realized that they had degenerated so far."  
  
"That's just it," Cash said, downing another drink. "According to everyone I talked to, the Order of Aurelius is dead."  
  
***  
  
"So, why are we in a graveyard?" Selene asked.  
  
It had been a quiet night. So far, there had been exactly one new lycan on the rampage tonight. That one had been intercepted and captured by Slayer herself on the other side of the city. Dawn had passed on the news she had received from Scooby Central.  
  
"We got a possible NVB here," Ash replied as they waited over a particular grave.  
  
"New Vampire, Buried," Dawn answered. At Selene's confused look, she added, "It's a cultural tradition among the local vamps. When they make a new vampire, they bury the poor sap alive so that he has to dig himself out. We've been trying to break them of the habit."  
  
"Why would they bury a newly made vampire?" Selene asked, aghast at the notion.  
  
"It's a holdover from the days when the Order of Aurelius was in charge," Ash answered. "The vampires here think that's how it's supposed to be done because that was how they got changed themselves. We're bringing them around, but." Ash shrugged.  
  
"Hold the yakkin', fellas," Jamal said from the ground. He had his ear to the grass. "I'm hearing movement down there."  
  
A fist punched through the surface, followed in moments by the rest of the vampire. Eyes aglow and fangs bared, the newly risen vampire looked around deliriously, obviously starving for blood.  
  
"Now, calm down, we're here to help." Ash began.  
  
The new vampire's gaze swiveled to lock on to his voice. With a roar, he launched himself at Ash. Ash's taser rifle came up, as did Selene's guns. They held their fire when Lestat and Jamal tackled the new vampire in mid-flight. As the two manhandled the struggling newbie to the ground, Dawn rushed forward and thrust a clear plastic bag filled with a red fluid into the new vampire's mouth.  
  
"Drink! Drink it!" she shouted at the vampire. "It'll help!"  
  
The vampire drank. In moments his struggling subsided.  
  
"You okay, now?" Dawn asked, putting away the now empty blood bag.  
  
"Uh, I think so," the new vampire said. He looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"  
  
"Oh, well, that'll take a little explaining," Ash said, stepping forward.  
  
The new vampire wasn't paying attention. He was busy staring at Lestat's face. "Pat?" he croaked.  
  
***  
  
"Angelus is the leader of the Los Angeles coven?" Erika said, not quite sure whether she wanted to believe Cash or not. A couple centuries ago, Erika had actually met Angelus once at one of innumerable parties that she so loved. She had spent a night's dalliance with him and once was more than enough for her. Angelus was far too much in love with pain for her tastes.  
  
"Angelus the Death Dealer?" Khan said incredulously. "He was one of the most zealous Death Dealers I've ever met." Erika recalled that Khan had been at that party too. She also recalled that Selene had not, typically avoiding that party as she had so many others so that she could hunt lycans. Khan continued to speak. "Why would Angelus let his vampires fraternize with the enemy?"  
  
"Let them?" Cash laughed humorlessly. "Man, as near as I could tell, he's encouraging them! I have no idea why."  
  
"Well, I suppose we'll find out when we meet him," Erika said as dismissively as she could muster. Inside, she practically dreaded meeting Angelus again. "Cash, you did learn what sewer he's headquartered himself in, yes?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I guess you could call it that," Cash replied. "The Wolfram and Hart tower. He's the CEO of Wolfram and Hart's LA branch." He sighed at his empty liquor bottle. "I always hated lawyers."  
  
"You're joking." Inside, Erika was berating herself.  
  
"I did mention that the Order was dead, right?" Cash said, bristling. "That means Angelus obviously doesn't feel bound to live in caves and sewers."  
  
"It's not that," Erika muttered.  
  
"What's the matter, Erika?" Khan asked.  
  
"Our coven employs a branch of Wolfram and Hart to handle our legal interests in the human world," Erika explained. "If we had known that Angelus was in charge of the LA branch, we could have sent him a message through them and saved ourselves the trip. Damn!"  
  
"Look on the bright side," Khan said. "Our visit is uncovering a lot of irregularities that I'm sure Marcus would like to hear about."  
  
"You're assuming Angelus just won't have us 'disappeared' before we can report our findings," Erika said sharply.  
  
A dry chuckle drew their attention. "Oh, c'mon, you geezers, this is the modern world," Cash told them. "Just call up your boss or send him an e- mail telling him what's going on. That way, if you get 'disappeared', he can avenge you. Then you make sure Angelus knows what'll happen if anything happens to you guys. It's Scheming 101."  
  
"Of course, how silly of me," Erika said, slightly relieved. "Get another bottle, Cash. I feel like a drink myself." She went to the hotel phone. "But first, I need to make a couple calls."  
  
***  
  
"Your name is Pat?" Selene asked "Lestat".  
  
"No, no, I am Lestat!" her teammate replied almost frantically.  
  
"I knew you were an Anne Rice fan, Pat, but geez!" the new vampire - he had said his name was Josh - said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"So where do you know 'Pat' from?" Jamal asked, grinning.  
  
"Oh, we were in the same LARP group together."  
  
"You guys were LARPers?" Ash asked no one in particular.  
  
"You got a problem with that?" Pat asked.  
  
"Yeah, I do," Ash replied. "What's wrong with guys? Tabletop RPGs are obviously superior to LARPs."  
  
"Oh, c'mon."  
  
Selene shook her head in bemusement as the conversation devolved into a debate on the merits of different kinds of roleplaying games. Tuning the debate out, Selene wondered what Michael was doing.  
  
***  
  
"Now girls," Michael was saying, "don't make me hurt any of you."  
  
The dozen or two female lycans surrounding him practically purred in response. They sounded as if they wouldn't mind if he hurt them. Michael hadn't quite expected them to be like this.  
  
Why had no one warned him that lycan females came into heat during the full moon? 


	9. Full Moon, Second Night

Title: Underworld Slayer Part 9 - Full Moon, Second Night  
  
Author: Nopporn Wongrassamee aka the Evil Author  
  
Email Address: EvilAuthor@aol.com  
  
Spoilers: Anything goes  
  
Summary: BTVS/Underworld crossover. Los Angeles has been a haven for those fleeing the vampire/lycan blood feud. That was until two new refugees arrived.  
  
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Demons from the Hell dimension known as Real Life have been invading my space lately.  
  
Dennis was trying to cheer Selene up.  
  
Sitting on the living room side of her kitchen counter, the vampire watched as the ghost literally juggled five bottles of blood in the kitchen proper. Each bottle arcing through the air contained blood from a different animal. The bottles were also all open, spilling out their contents in measured amounts into a tall glass that raced back and forth to catch every drop. Selene might have enjoyed the spectacle had she been in a better mood.  
  
Selene missed Michael. Her lover had been only gone for little more than twenty-four hours and she missed his touch. She hadn't realized how much Michael had become part of her life.  
  
The front door banged open, revealing a silhouette of a man. "Honey! I'm home!"  
  
Dennis dropped a bottle. It hit the floor and shattered, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor. Selene didn't notice. She was too busy launching herself at the intruder.  
  
"Michael!" Selene exclaimed, practically bowling him over as her arms wrapped around his neck. They embraced for a long kiss.  
  
"I missed you too," Michael said when they disengaged.  
  
"You're back early," Selene murmured. She frowned thoughtfully. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, nothing's wrong," Michael said quickly. "Oz got called back to LA for some big meeting. I hitched a ride with him."  
  
"Oh, I thought that." Selene paused. There was an odd scent in the air. She took a good whiff. "Michael," she began sternly, "why are you covered with female lycan pheromones?"  
  
"Er."  
  
***  
  
"I don't like this," Erika muttered.  
  
"We're in Los Angeles about to have a meeting with a dangerous vampire lord who a) comes from a bloodline infamous for its sadism and violence and b) has apparently decided to completely flout vampire law," Kahn replied. "There isn't anything to like. Is there something you don't like in particular?"  
  
Looking out the limo's window, Erika ignored the head of her bodyguard as she tried to catch a glimpse of their destination. Too many high-rise buildings blocked her view.  
  
"Well?" Kahn prompted when she didn't immediately answer.  
  
"If you must know," Erika said, annoyed, "it has to do with the meeting place. Angelus is currently the CEO of the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart. So why aren't we meeting him at the seat of his power where he can lord over us? Why the Hyperion Hotel?"  
  
"From what we've been able to find out, Angelus owns the Hyperion, too," Kahn pointed out. "He can lord over us there, too."  
  
"But the Hyperion isn't operating as a hotel," Erika said. "As far as we can tell, it's empty and only opened for 'special parties'. Given Angelus' reputation."  
  
"I see," Kahn said thoughtfully. "You think he's going to try something?"  
  
"I'm afraid he might," Erika said, worry creeping into her voice. "And there's another thing."  
  
Kahn said nothing, but raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Angelus' secretary told us over the phone that we were going to meet someone called 'the Master of the City'," Erika continued. "But the way she said it implied that Angelus isn't this so-called 'Master'."  
  
"You sure about that?" Kahn asked, troubled by the notion. "If all the elder vampires in the Order of Aurelius are really dead, then who could possibly have any authority that Angelus would respect?"  
  
"I think we're about to find out," Erika told him. "We're here." As their limousine pulled up to the front of the Hyperion, she could see that the interior was lit. Out front, a single solitary figure stood waiting for them. He was lounging against the wall by the front gate, smoking a cigarette. "Who's that?"  
  
Kahn looked out the window and his face fell. "Oh, hell," he muttered. "It's Spike."  
  
***  
  
"No need for the artillery, mates," Spike told the visitors. He was completely at ease, blithely ignoring the dozen or so automatic weapons aimed at him. "This is supposed to be a friendly little get together. All that hardware might give people the wrong idea."  
  
"What are you doing here, Spike?" Kahn grated out.  
  
"Kahn, old buddy, I'm here to show you all to the Master of the City," Spike replied. "Orders are no violence unless you folks start something."  
  
"Oh, yes, because we all know how well you follow orders," Kahn said coldly.  
  
"What, you're not holding that little incident in Prague against me, are you?" Spike placed a hand over his heart as if wounded. "I'm hurt. I'm really hurt."  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
"You're right, I'm not." Spike grinned at him. "But I'm supposed to be all friendly and everything. Now let's not keep the boss waiting, shall we? I'm told that the United Covens' emissary was supposed to be a woman. I don't see any woman, Kahn. Is there something you neglected to tell me about yourself?"  
  
Gritting his teeth, Kahn reluctantly gave the all clear. One of his guards opened the door of the limousine and Erika elegantly stepped out.  
  
"Well, aren't you a vision," Spike said to Erika. "If my love life weren't a bloody soap opera already, I might've asked you out sometime."  
  
"Don't push your luck, Spike," Kahn growled. In the back of his mind, he took comfort in the fact that he had backup waiting in the wings to extract them if there was trouble. For a member of the Kindred covens, Cash seemed fairly reliable.  
  
***  
  
Cash was never going to live this down.  
  
His team had been ambushed while they were taking their positions on the building opposite of the Hyperion. But they hadn't been ambushed by other vampires, or even lycans. No, Cash had been taken by surprise by a gang of human girls. Before anyone had even known it, his whole team had found gun barrels pressed against the back of their heads.  
  
"What's the sitch?" the apparent leader asked one of the other girls.  
  
"No injuries to us or them, Kennedy," the girl replied. "All of 'em are tied up and gagged. They aren't going anywhere."  
  
"Kinda disappointing though," another girl commented. "I kinda expected more fight from the big bad Death Dealers."  
  
"They couldn't put up much of a fight if their brains were blown across the roof," Kennedy said reasonably. "That's why we ambushed them the way we did. We didn't actually want to kill any of them."  
  
"Hey, they got some cool stuff here," the second girl said, examining one of the captured weapons. "Can we keep it?"  
  
"No, we're supposed to return their stuff when we send them on their way," Kennedy told her, talking as if Cash and his people were little children.  
  
Oh, yes. Cash was NEVER going to live this down.  
  
***  
  
The lobby of the Hyperion was never supposed to be a throne room, Erika decided. Oh, it had been hastily redecorated as such, but it was obvious to Erika's eye that the change was recent and hasty. A deep red carpet had been thrown across the floor, still wrinkled in spots and curled up at the edges. A plush love seat opposite the doors served as a makeshift throne.  
  
As Erika had surmised, Angelus did not occupy the 'throne'. He stood to its right, a position that implied a great deal of power. Standing by Angelus was a young human man who would have been unremarkable had she seen him anywhere else. To the left of the 'throne' stood a young human woman with startlingly red hair, a lycan male who looked fairly puny, and a middle aged human male.  
  
But it was the person lounging on the 'throne' that surprised Erika. A petite human blonde lounged in it, one leg propped up on one of the love seat's arms. Lying across her lap was an ornate axe of some kind. The axe was the only visible weapon the other side openly displayed.  
  
"Hey, everyone!" Spike called out as he led the guests inside. "It's the high and mighty muckety mucks from the United Covens."  
  
"Thanks, Spike," Angelus replied caustically. "It's not like we wanted to make a good impression or anything."  
  
"Not a problem, mate," Spike said. Erika and her people came to a halt in the center of the lobby while Spike moved on to join Angelus' side of the 'throne'. "This bunch wouldn't have been impressed if you had the entire cast of Passions sitting in on this."  
  
"Not now, boys. Snipe at each other on your own time," the girl on the 'throne' told the vampires. To Erika's astonishment, they actually did as they were told and quieted down. The girl turned back to the guests. "Welcome to Los Angeles. So what brings you to the land of sunshine and yet more sunshine?"  
  
"Who the hell are you?" That was not the way Erika had intended to start. However, the situation was ridiculous. Did anyone expect her to believe that this. this blonde bimbo ruled the Los Angeles underworld?  
  
"Excuse me?" The girl had the nerve to be annoyed.  
  
"Do you expect me to believe that you're the so-called 'Master of the City'?" Erika said scornfully. "Should I be looking around for a man behind a curtain? Who are you to be ruling anything, little girl?"  
  
"The Slayer," the girl replied simply.  
  
Beside Erika, Kahn grunted like he had just been punched.  
  
"The Slayer?" Erika scoffed. "That old myth?"  
  
Beside her, Erika noticed Kahn trying to subtly get her attention. She ignored him, incensed at the idea of a human telling vampires what to do. Erika also noticed that the so-called "Slayer's" retinue was also glaring at her. She ignored them, too, since it was Erika's bodyguards who had all the guns.  
  
"Your fairy tales may intimidate the superstitious vampires of this city," Erika continued, "but we of the United Covens are much too sophisticated to be taken in by such fables. Run along, little girl. The grown-ups have business to discuss."  
  
There was silence as the two blondes stared each other down.  
  
The human broke eye contact first. She burst out laughing.  
  
Erika flushed. "How dare you."  
  
"Oh, I've dared a lot more than this in my time," the Slayer interrupted. "Y'know, when I heard that the most powerful gang of vamps on the planet had sent us an ambassador, I was a bit worried. I hadn't realized that they'd sent a complete ditz."  
  
"You should respect your elders," Erika sniffed.  
  
"Yeah, I get told that a lot," the Slayer replied lazily, glancing at her own companions. "Now, while I'd love to get in a pissing contest with you all night, I have way better uses for my time. So why don't you tell me what brings you to Los Angeles?"  
  
"My business is vampire business," Erika said stubbornly. She noticed Kahn was being much less subtle in trying to get her attention. Erika wished he would stop; it was embarrassing. In any case, Erika was sure she had everything well in hand.  
  
"Oh hey, then you're in luck." The girl gestured to Angelus and Spike. "We got two vampires right here. Angel's the senior-most vampire in town and Spike is. Spike. So go ahead, they're listening."  
  
Erika gritted her teeth and made a mental note to teach this so- called Slayer a lesson in manners in the future. But propriety could come later. Erika had a message to deliver. She turned to address Angelus.  
  
"Angelus, I don't know why you let this hussy think she's in charge."  
  
"She ran me through with a sword and sent me to Hell once," Angel said with a shrug.  
  
"Er, yes," Erika said, nonplussed. "In any case, I bring word from Marcus, ruling Elder of the United Covens. We are hunting for two fugitives. One is an abomination, a hybrid of lycan and vampire named Michael Corvin that must be hunted down and killed immediately along with any spawn he may have created. The other is a rogue Death Dealer named Selene. If it can be done, capture her alive and turn her over to us. If not, we will settle for her head. She murdered the Elder Viktor and must be punished."  
  
"Killed an Elder vamp, huh?" the Slayer murmured. "Good for her."  
  
Erika ignored the interjection. "Please us, and great rewards are yours," she continued. "Displease us, and suffer the wrath of the United Covens." Message delivered, Erika waited for Angelus to respond. Sadistic or not, Erika was sure the other vampire wouldn't flout Marcus' commands.  
  
Infuriatingly, Angelus along with the rest of the locals turned to the insolent human girl on the throne as if looking for leadership. In fact, Kahn and several of Erika's bodyguards did the same as if the girl was a real threat. Had everyone gone insane?  
  
The self-named Slayer studied Erika with narrow eyes, no longer amused, and spoke a single word. "No."  
  
"Angelus, if you can't control your pet." Erika began.  
  
"Shut up." Surprise at the sheer command presence in the Slayer's voice effectively shut Erika up. The girl slid off the throne to her feet, a move done with a grace and smoothness that surprised Erika. Erika's guards raised their guns nervously. The human ignored them. "You're new in town, so I'll cut you some slack. Let me spell it out for you. This is Los Angeles. Your United Covens have no authority here. Your feud with the werewolves is not allowed here. Anyone who wants sanctuary from you or your feud is welcome here. If your fugitives are here, you can't have them. If they prove to be a danger to the people of this city, we'll take care of them ourselves. And if this Marcus doesn't like it, he's welcome to come here so I can kick his ass in person."  
  
Erika opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She was still trying to formulate a response when she felt a tug on her arm.  
  
"Erika," Kahn hissed in her ear. "Message delivered. Now let's get out of here!"  
  
"What? No," Erika said slowly. The with increasing ire, "No! I will not be insulted like this by a mere human! If Angelus will not control his pet humans, then we'll do it for him! Kahn," Erika pointed imperiously at the so-called Slayer, "kill her."  
  
***  
  
"So, Cash, you said you have a girlfriend?" asked one of Cash's captors. The girl - she said her name was Lucy van Pelt - couldn't have been more than thirteen.  
  
Cash nodded his head yes. It was hard to speak when you were tied and gagged.  
  
"Oh," Lucy said, disappointed. Then she smiled slyly. "Want a new one?" She had been flirting with him for several minutes now, a situation Cash found strange given his captive status. Behind Lucy, Cash saw one of the other girls roll her eyes at Lucy's antics.  
  
Distant gunfire interrupted before Cash could decide which awkward answer was safer to give. There was an instant scramble by Lucy and the other girls and Cash was forgotten for the moment.  
  
"Kennedy, what's going on?" Lucy demanded of the leader. While Lucy had been busy flirting with Cash, Kennedy had been keeping an eye on events across the street with a set of binoculars.  
  
"Nothing to worry about," Kennedy replied. "My girl's got everything in hand."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, it worked!"  
  
"Of course it worked, Spike. Have you no confidence in me?"  
  
"I have confidence in you, Willow."  
  
"Oz, please don't do this to yourself."  
  
Erika ignored the byplay from the other side. She was too busy staring in shock at the bullets hanging suspended in mid-air. When Khan's men had opened up, their automatic fire had hit an invisible wall and just. stopped. As she watched, brilliant light began burning through the carpet Erika's party was standing on. Looking around, she realized that the light formed a circle that her people were all inside of. The bullets had been stopped at the edge of the circle.  
  
Absently, Erika noticed that Khan was muttering to himself, half cursing and half praying.  
  
"So," the Slayer said loudly, drawing everyone's attention. She stood outside the circle of light. As she spoke, the light began to fade and bullets began harmlessly dropping one by one to the floor. "Any other stupid gestures of ego you'd like to make?"  
  
Erika couldn't think of anything to say. Fortunately, Kahn was a bit quicker on the uptake.  
  
"Cash!" he called into a walkie-talkie. "We need an extraction, proto!"  
  
"Bzzt! I'm sorry, the person you have reached is currently unavailable," a feminine voice replied. "Please leave your name and number at the tone and he'll get back to you as soon as he can. Ding!" Faint laughter could be heard coming in the background noise.  
  
The Slayer quirked an eyebrow at Erika.  
  
Gathering what little dignity was left to her, Erika tried to regain control of the situation. "Let us go," she demanded weakly.  
  
"Let you go?" the Slayer echoed. "You want me to let you go after insulting me and my people, throwing your weight around, bringing automatic weapons to what was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting, and using said weapons to try and kill me?"  
  
"When you put it like that."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Erika blinked. "What?"  
  
"Go. Leave." The Slayer pointed at the doors behind them with her strange axe. "Exit's right over there. I'll even be generous and let you stay in L.A. as long as you want." The Slayer took a half step forward, not quite entering the circle. Two of Erika's nervous guards who were standing closest raised their weapons again but held their fire. "But if you attack anybody here - human, vampire, or werewolf." In a single move so fast that it was a blur even to Erika's vampire senses, the Slayer swung her axe in a flat arc that shattered the two nearest guards' weapons. The guards themselves were completely untouched.  
  
Erika suddenly believed that the Slayer was exactly who and what she claimed to be.  
  
"I trust I've made my point," the Slayer said, a predatory looking grin on her face.  
  
With that, the Slayer turned her back on them and exited the room. The rest of her retinue threw Erika's party a mix of looks ranging from impassive to openly threatening before following their leader.  
  
The meeting was clearly over.  
  
***  
  
"Selene! Are you okay?" asked an alarmed Michael when he saw his lover limped into Scooby Central's infirmary, supported by Dawn and Ash. One of her legs was heavily bandaged.  
  
"I'm fine," Selene growled in reply as her teammates set her down on the nearest bed. "It's nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" Ash replied incredulously. "I saw one of those things' blood eat through steel and concrete. You're lucky you only got a couple drops on you."  
  
"What happened?" Michael asked as he removed the bandaging and began examining the wound.  
  
"We ran into a nest of demons of a type I've never even heard of before," Dawn replied. "They looked like something out of the Aliens movies, complete with acid blood and chest-bursting reproductive cycle. I think the Ancient Powers are getting ideas from us and making new demons based on."  
  
"I meant how did Selene get this injury?" Michael interrupted.  
  
"Oh, we were shooting them all," Selene replied. She grimaced in pain. "One of them got a little too close."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, party's over. Looks like we got to let you go," Lucy told Cash as she untied him. She sounded a bit glum.  
  
"You're just letting us go?" Cash asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Yeah, we are," Lucy replied. "Oh, by the way." She held up Cash's gun, ejected the ammo magazine and the round in the chamber, and handed the now empty weapon to its owner. "Here you go. Sorry I can't give you back your ammunition."  
  
They'd have to be complete idiots to give Cash and his people loaded weapons. "Not a problem," he said neutrally as he holstered his weapon.  
  
"Okay," Lucy beamed. With that she crushed the steel magazine in her hand with a single squeeze of her fingers. Ultraviolet radiant gel oozed out from between her fingers.  
  
Cash felt his eyes go wide with shocked surprise.  
  
Lucy either didn't notice or ignored Cash's reaction. "Hey, if you're not doing anything tomorrow night, why don't you come to the Bronze? There's the last night of the full moon party going on."  
  
***  
  
"Selene, you know I love you, right?" Michael asked when things had calmed down.  
  
"Hmm." The vampire looked like she was reserving judgment for later.  
  
"Okay, the field trip was a disaster," Michael continued. "So let me make it up to you."  
  
Selene said nothing.  
  
"You're not hurt too bad, but you still have tomorrow night off," Michael said. "So let me take you out somewhere."  
  
Okay, now he could see that had Selene's curiosity piqued.  
  
Michael smiled as charming a smile he could muster. "There's this party tomorrow night at the Bronze." 


End file.
